Nathalie Edmond

On October 27, 2023, three weeks after the Hamas terrorist attacks against Israel, Edmond devoted an episode of her "Rest and Awaken" podcast to the issue.

In Episode 13, titled: Talking About Israel-Gaza-Palestine," Edmond said [00:12:02]: "...I don't think we should take other people's land, right? Like, I just think of the parallel here in the United States...It's still settler colonialism. And how do we...live with the fact that people have built life, a life there, and it was other people's land at one point."

On November 27, 2023, an anti-Semitism watch group posted on Instagram screenshots from Edmond's November 2, 2023 "Antiracism Revolution" newsletter in which Edmond wrote [slides 1 and 2]: "...I am anti-zionist and I tend to be on the side of black, brown, indigenous and asian people...because colonization and white supremacy is far reaching..."

On November 14, 2024, Edmond spoke at the 29th Annual International Society for the Improvement and Teaching of Dialectical Behavior Therapy Conference (ISIT DBT), through which attendees can earn professional continuing education credits, held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Edmond posted on Instagram: "Presenting at ISIT DBT conference today...about embodying antiracism for our collective healing and liberation...working to build racial literacy...particularly in predominantly white spaces."

On November 18, 2024, an anti-Semitism watchdog group posted on Instagram a video clip of Edmond's November 14th presentation, with copies of two slides Edmond displayed during her anti-racism presentation.

One [slide 2] was labeled: "OVERTON WINDOW: The Window of Acceptable Discourse -- what is OK and what is "too much." This graphic labeled "ZIONISM & FASCISM" as extremist and racist speech.

Edmond then displayed [slide 3] captioned: "The colonized mind." A cut-out view of the human brain categorized "Zionism" with "Rape culture" and "Genocidal tendencies." Included in the Instagram post was a video clip in which Edmond said: "...I think it's good to be thinking about things we can be targeting."

When the floor was opened to comments, a Jewish graduate student took the mic and said [00:00:34]: "...I could not sit back and not acknowledge this...her view of these slides...I spent the whole talk and pretty much the whole day, since last night, with my nervous system in fight-or-flight state, because of the huge, huge anti-Semitism in those two slides with the graphics that equate Zionism to fascism, racism, rape culture, and all these other horrible things..."

The graduate student also said [00:01:23]: "...I know from conversations with my community...we bonded over what we were going through -- which was beyond 'discomfort' but real impact -- that I'm not the only one who feels this way..." The student continued [00:02:02]: "...those slides, and the way that you defined Zionism, was an example of that [anti-Semitism]..."

Edmond responded [00:09:18]: "...my power analysis is that I think that the Jewish perspective is easily accessible, and I think that the Palestinian perspective is not as easily accessible..."

On November 20, 2024, in response to the backlash received after her conference presentation, Edmond posted on YouTube an 18-minute video defending her positions. The video has since been deleted from YouTube, but is preserved on this site.

Edmond said [00:00:32]: "...I really tried to amplify the voices of Palestinian people, who are currently experiencing a genocide..."

Edmond said [00:01:48]: "...my biggest takeaway - you know, in my talk, I talked about wanting to be brave and challenge the part of myself that is white appeasing. And I would probably also say, like, white colonial appeasing, and I'm going to continue to target that, because I want to be a good ancestor..."

Edmond said [00:03:10]: "...I think, what did I do wrong? I miscalculated...I miscalculated DBT therapists' ability to use the DBT skills of, 'what might be the kernel of truth; assuming the best about people...recognize that you are in amygdala mind, and that you are hijacked by emotion mind, and so you probably didn't hear the nuance and complexity of my talk..."

Edmond said [00:04:35]: "...when you come with this annihilating rage...I'm talking to 'Zionist' Jewish people..."

Edmond continued [00:05:05]: "...my view of Zionism is that it's much more than 'Jewish' Zionism. It's Christian fundamentalist, conservative, right wing, like, because to me, like that's part of the colonial-- colonialism, like, when I think of the empires, England, the United States, that supported the creation of the State of Israel, that those empires, right, and colonialism in general, like, I think we need to be interrogating how colonialism lives inside of us..."

Edmond said [00:05:55]: "I can own that there was great pain...for 'Zionist' Jewish people... and no capacity to enter a conversation from a place of wise mind or even acknowledge that you weren't in wise mind...."

Edmond said [00:06:17]: "...You can be in rage; you can be passionate; you can be fighting for justice, but does your justice mean that you need to annihilate and cancel other people...?"

Edmond continued [00:16:33]: "I'm going to continue to fight for liberation, I'm going to continue to amplify Palestinian voices, because they are experiencing a genocide currently."