In the second session of Mad Campaigns Lab 2026 we looked at how the mad movement and the struggle for Palestinian liberation are interconnected.
Many of us are familiar with Israel’s ongoing genocide of the Plalestinian people, but it is also vital to understand what the anticolonial struggle can teach us about the politics of Western psychiatry and disability more widely.
Guest organisation: Makan
For this session we were joined by Makan, a Palestinian-led organisation that delivers political education on the struggle for Palestinian liberation. They are especially interested in connecting the Palestinian struggle to other social justice issues.
Panel & Discussion
In the panel discussion, our speakers from Makan highlighted how Western psychiatry has been used as a tool against marginalised groups for as long as it has existed. In the same way that people enslaved because of the transatlantic slave trade were constructed as mad when they fought for their freedom, Palestinians resisting occupation have long been pathologised. They are also often stripped of their agency with weaponised psychiatric language like ‘traumatised people’.
Meanwhile, western psychiatry creates new diagnoses and labels to present Israeli occupation soldiers as victims of PTSD and so-calledn moral injury in order to draw attention away from their role in the ongoing genocide. It is important to remember that all Palestinians are debilitated, if not disabled, by the Israeli occupation.
Another important takeaway from our discussion was that the work of mad and Disabled activists and Palestinians resisting occupation is often depoliticised in similar ways. Humanitarian organisations and charities often infantilise or smear these groups, presenting them either as helpless ‘perfect victims’ or dangerous extremists rather than real people resisting injustices.
In the same way, we must not fall into the trap of romanticising oppressed people with a disproportionate focus on their resilience. Instead of trying to understand how people respond to and deal with oppression, it is more useful for us to listen to their experiences and look for ways to build solidarity.
Action Session
After a wide-ranging panel and discussion session, we took some time to process and reflect on what we had heard together. We linked the theme of psychiatric violence against Palestinians to dishonest narratives about the ‘overdiagnosis’ of mental ill-health in the UK. We also highlighted how both Palestinians raising money for essentials and people in receipt of social security in the UK face paternalism and distrust.
We agreed that an important way of building solidarity between the mad movement and the struggle for Palestinian liberation is to keep sharing and discussing the connections which Makan helped us make with people who might not be as confident linking these issues.
Next steps
If you’d like to take further action, here are some steps you might like to consider based on the time you have available:
1 min: Follow Makan
15 mins: Read “Lessons on disability justice and Palestine solidarity” (by Makan)
1hr: Watch “What does Palestine reveal about the psy disciplines” with Healing Justice London
Keep an eye on the NSUN website and bulletin for details of ongoing collaboration between NSUN and Makan.
About Mad Campaigns Lab 2026
Mad Campaigns Lab 2026 is a twice-monthly workshop series exploring different social justice issues and how they intersect with mental health. All sessions are held online and are free to join for NSUN members. Click here to view the full programme.