Bring Them Home

Petition Signed

I’m Jewish. And, moments ago, I signed a Change.org petition that demands the release of young women abducted by Hamas during the Nova Psychedelic-Trance Dance Music Festival for Peace festival.

I didn’t sign because I’m Jewish. I signed because I was asked to sign and, after considering the merits, I felt signing this petition was right. I’m happy to use my mini-platform to briefly explain my decision and amplify the petition, reproduced below:

We, members of the American psychedelic field, Rick Doblin, PhD, Rachel Yehuda, PhD, Brigadier General (Ret.) Stephen N. Xenakis, MD, Leonard Pickard, MPP, Shoshana Ungerleider, MD, Jeannie Moller Fontana, MD, PhD, and our allies, extend our sincere appreciation for UN Women's commitment to ensuring the safety and freedom of all women, a sentiment which we wholeheartedly share. We join in the aspiration for peace and good neighborliness between Israelis and Palestinians.

Our immediate concern, however, is the serious situation highlighted in a recent US State Department briefing. It revealed that young women abducted by Hamas during the Nova Psychedelic-Trance Dance Music Festival for Peace in Israel remain in captivity due to the continued perpetration of sexual violence by Hamas. President Joe Biden has rightly condemned this heinous act and called for individuals, civil society, and the business community to join governments and international organizations in denouncing Hamas's sexual violence unambiguously.

The psychedelic community cannot remain silent. Our field, recognized for groundbreaking research in psychedelic medicines, understands the profound impact of trauma on mental health. We are committed to healing and alleviating human suffering, and thus, find it imperative to raise our voice against such atrocities.

Leaders across various sectors, including biopharma, technology, finance, and law, have already taken a stand. For instance, Dr. Albert Bourla, CEO of Pfizer, called at Davos for the immediate release of the hostages. The Yale University School of Management lists numerous Fortune 500 corporations that have denounced terrorism and advocated for the hostages release.

Our call to action is clear: We urge UN Women, under your esteemed leadership, to actively engage in securing the release of the 19 women still held hostage by Hamas, including the five from Nova Psychedelic-Trance Dance Music Festival for Peace. Their names are Noa Argamani, 26, Amit Esther Buskila, 28, Romi Gonen, 23, Inbar Haiman, 27, and Eden Yerushalmi, 24.

This situation transcends professional boundaries and touches us on a human level. While many of us may not have experienced a Psychedelic-Trance Festival, we recognize its cultural and symbolic significance, particularly in the context of the Israeli peace movement. The Hamas atrocities on October 7 and also the tragic loss of civilian life in Gaza, demand a global response.

President Biden's statement, “The world can't just look away” from the horrors of sexual violence by Hamas, resonates with us deeply. The psychedelic community stands united in this cause, and we implore you to leverage your influence and resources at UN Women to ensure the safe return of these hostages as well as the other 125 still held captive.

While socially, I generally find myself exposed to the pro-Israel side, I speak to folks on the other side as well. Even where there is clear disagreement, dialogue and understanding is important. And, here, I genuinely wanted to understand why someone might not want to sign this petition. Why is calling for the release of innocent women and children hostages a controversial ask?

The best counter I got was this: signing this petition humanizes one side of the conflict—the Israeli side. According to this view, Palestinians unjustly held in Israeli prisons need also be considered. Indeed, according to sources, Israel holds many Palestinians under “administrative detentions,” i.e., holding of persons in the occupied territories without formal charges or evidence presented against them, not unlike those held in Gitmo.

So, why do I reject this view? Actually, I don’t. I believe in due process, after all. And I’m happy to acknowledge that other issues on other sides may require discussion and addressing. But at the same time, I don’t see issues as a tit-for-tat. Talking about an injustice on one side does not require finding some equal injustice on the other side. So, whether to sign this petition isn’t a zero-sum calculation because not everything is an exchange. At bottom, I don’t believe innocents should be taken and held in captivity for any reason ever, period, so for me, singing the petition is obvious.

This applies beyond Israel-Palestine, of course, but to drug policy generally. I support marijuana rescheduling. I also support reforms advocated by those in the social justice crowd. I’m not going to withhold support for the former or try to sink it, at the expense of others, just because more work needs to be done on social justice reforms. If both sides of an issue should be addressed, work both sides. Don’t withhold support on one side unless there’s a conflict.

Moreover, here, I don’t view the petition as stating anything controversial or disagreeable. It (1) aspires for peace and good neighborliness between Israelis and Palestinians; (2) states that the psychedelic community should not remain silent; (3) calls for the release of the hostages; and that (4) the Hamas atrocities on October 7 and also the tragic loss of civilian life in Gaza, demands a global response. For a field whose fiat currency is trauma, signing this petition ought to be a no-brainer.

Will a Change.org petition or signature will result in anything substantive? Probably not. Success stories are few and far between, and as of now, more people have signed onto stopping canine overpopulation in Indianapolis. Instead, my hope is that we can talk about this divisive issue and others. The psychedelic field needs to start having more prominent discussions about uncomfortable topics, such as psychedelic harms.

Indeed, this was going to be a longer essay on fecklessness in psychedelics, Sessagate, and the tie-dyed veil of tranquility—but I wanted to stay focused and didn’t want to dilute the core message of this one. But don’t worry, that’s all up next.