In September 2024, MintPress News exposed how Project Shema, an Israel lobby group closely aligned with the notorious Anti-Defamation League (ADL), infiltrated U.S. public schools, seeking to inculcate pupils and teachers alike in liberal Zionist dogma and stifle debate and dissent on Tel Aviv’s deadly war on Gaza, under the bogus aegis of battling anti-Jewish hatred. Fast forward to today, and Project Shema has quietly trained its crosshairs on the unlikeliest of targets – the American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors and Therapists (AASECT).
Readers would be forgiven for being unfamiliar with AASECT. Founded in 1967, the organization publishes peer-reviewed journals on sex education and therapy and maintains a directory of certified sexual health practitioners, helping connect those in need with appropriate assistance. Its membership runs to a few thousand people, comprising medical professionals, psychologists, marriage counselors, family planning specialists, lawyers, students, and others. While a highly respected institution in the field, AASECT is not on the mainstream radar and will be wholly unknown to many Americans.
This begs the obvious question of how and why the organization ended up in the Israel lobby’s crosshairs. It is a deeply sordid tale, spelled out in often shocking detail in material provided to MintPress News by a whistleblower within AASECT, who wishes to remain anonymous. The documentation shows Project Shema inserting itself into the Association was the culmination of long-running, determined and intensely malign efforts by Zionists within the organization’s ranks to force AASECT to adopt a pro-Israel stance and neutralize internal Palestinian solidarity.
Along the way, dissenting AASECT members were viciously attacked and ostracized, their concerns ignored, and the organization’s leadership successfully bullied again and again into capitulating to the excessive, unreasonable demands from Israel’s backers. At one stage, the Association’s president outright resigned due to the pressure. Ever since AASECT’s internal discussion platforms have been heavily moderated. Those speaking up for Palestine are censored, while Israeli propaganda talking points and unabashed Islamophobia abound without hindrance or rebuttal.
While AASECT may be a niche entity, the details of how it was aggressively brought to heel by the Israel lobby are of enormous wider relevance. Evidently, no sphere of public or professional life is off-limits to Zionist penetration and corruption. The tawdry saga should serve as an urgent warning to all who are sympathetic to the Palestinians’ plight. “Safe spaces” to express solidarity are ever-shrinking in every sphere – and your school, university, workplace, professional organization, or even social club could be next.
‘Human Animals’
Among AASECT’s key membership selling points is a listserv, a private electronic mailing list providing a platform for networking, collaboration, sharing knowledge, and advertising employment opportunities. It was here, in the wake of Palestinian freedom fighters breaching Gaza’s concentration camp walls on October 7, 2023, that the seeds of the Association’s Zionist debasement were first sown. Nine days later, celebrity sex therapist Caleb Johnson fired off a post to the listserv, with a joint letter “directed towards the AASECT board” attached.
Johnson’s accompanying description of the letter, signed by 26 other “dedicated” Association members, suggested it was a simple plea for AASECT higher-ups to issue a statement of “solidarity with our Israeli colleagues during these challenging times.” A fair request, one might argue – but the letter’s content made clear Johnson et al. had a nakedly partisan, pro-Isael agenda. Concerns about the wellbeing of Israeli Association members were secondary to demands AASECT “raise its voice in unwavering support of the Jewish people and the nation of Israel”:
History has taught us the enduring importance of the phrase ‘Never Again.’ On October 7, 2023, the world witnessed a horrific event, marking the largest single-day loss of Jewish lives since the Holocaust…To choose not to act is, in itself, a powerful action. In this time of crisis, remaining silent would send a message of indifference. We urge you to issue a statement in support of Israel, our colleagues there, and the Jewish people’s right to live peacefully in their ancestral homeland.”
There was no reference whatsoever to Israeli atrocities perpetrated against the Palestinians since October 7, let alone the decades prior. This was despite the genocidal intent of Benjamin Netanyahu and his ministers being writ unambiguously large from the word go. On the evening of October 7, the Israeli leader ominously ordered Gaza’s 2.2 million Palestinian population to “get out now,” as “we will be everywhere and with all our might.” Two days later, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced a total blockade on Gaza:
There will be no electricity, no food, no fuel, everything is closed…We are fighting human animals, and we are acting accordingly…Gaza won’t return to what it was before. We will eliminate everything.”
The call for AASECT to prove its commitment to the Israeli cause received voluble support from certain Association members. Not all were so enthused, however. Some drew attention to the listserv’s guidelines, which explicitly prohibit discussions of “political views or political opinions not related to sexuality education, counseling, and therapy.” Others were baffled by the proposition AASECT should take any public position at all on October 7. One suggested that concerned members simply issue personal or group statements without the association’s involvement. Another wrote:
What does it matter whether the organization writes a letter or not? What does the genocide occurring have to do with our mission and vision? How does such a letter make a difference? I truly do not understand why it’s important…You’ll need to help me to understand why certifying people in a skill related business profession has anything to do with taking action when those people experience a war. Why would they experience a letter as helpful?”
‘Zionist Bully’
Contributors expressing such fair-minded queries and concerns were aggressively shouted down by hardcore backers of Israel within AASECT. Yet, the most repulsive brickbats were hurled at members who suggested any Association statement on the carnage in Gaza should take into consideration the organization’s “Palestinian colleagues,” who might be “affected by acts of violence.” One pro-Israel hardliner countered AASECT had no comrades in Gaza while manically charging “haters in Palestine…celebrate every Israeli murder by terrorism” and “want every Jew dead.” Elsewhere, an Israeli sexologist disgustingly chimed in:
In the AASECT directory, there are 17 members in Israel. AASECT currently has no members in any of the Arab countries and territories, as far as I know. Why don’t we have any members in any of the very many Arab countries? Maybe because as a whole, they are not as advanced or liberal as we are.”
The mildest pushback against these monstrous pronouncements elicited even more belligerent responses from AASECT’s pro-Israel ideologues. Their tone, language, and accusations were so frightful an “American Jew and an anti-Zionist” member described experiencing “emotional difficulty in response,” branding their rhetoric “antisemitic.”
The Association whistleblower informs MintPress News that the organization subsequently began purging all traces of Palestinian sympathy from the listserv due to pro-Israel members threatening to quit en masse and falsely alleging antisemitism. As one AASECT member told MintPress:
People were making perfectly reasonable statements about Palestine and the humanity and dignity of Arabs and Muslims, only to be viciously verbally harassed by a gang of middle-aged white people. Why aren’t these bullies being held accountable for their actions? Why is AASECT acting as if there was real harm committed against them? There was no antisemitism in any of the listserv posts that got deleted. But shaded racism and xenophobia was somehow allowed in Zionist posts. All of this was disgusting and it’s still there.”
Finally, on December 7, 2023, AASECT released a statement – namely, that it didn’t take any position on October 7 or the Gaza genocide. Five days later, a “moderation committee” was instituted, meaning anything posted to the listserv was and remains vetted in advance in a blatant crackdown on dissent. According to the whistleblower, at least one prominent “Zionist bully” is part of this committee, while another became AASECT’s communications chief. Still dissatisfied – one might say emboldened – Israeli exceptionalists kept up the pressure on the Association’s board.
The mass backlash against the organization’s refusal to firmly side with Israel raged apace, and some members resigned very publicly. Meanwhile, the listserv became flooded with the promotion of “antisemitism” workshops and pro-Israel propaganda. On January 23, 2024, longtime AASECT president Dr. Rosalyn Dischiavo resigned, citing opaque personal reasons. The next month, the Association issued a follow-up statement, alleging “antisemitic and Islamophobic comments” were posted on the listserv and resolving to prevent further incidents.
Come March that year, AASECT members sympathetic to Palestine had had enough. Dozens – including many Jews and some who wished to remain anonymous, as they believed naming themselves would “[open] them to harm and removal” from Association committees – signed off on a joint letter. It expressed “profound disappointment and frustration” with the organization’s “prolonged inaction” on “harassment and discrimination” from Zionist members, “disparate support for impacted communities within AASECT membership, and unbalanced enforcement of listserv guidelines:”
The conflation of anti-Zionism with antisemitism is not only misleading but also silences valid political discourse and dilutes the actual definition of antisemitism. We feel compelled to express our discomfort with what appears to be AASECT aligning itself closely with Zionism. Furthermore, we question the lack of acknowledgment of the ongoing genocide in Palestine. Recognizing the need for a ceasefire is more than a humanitarian imperative – it’s a reflection of our organization’s commitment to promoting peace and justice.”
A response came in June. AASECT’s new President, Dr. Lexx Brown-James, and the Association’s collective board of directors said they appreciated the dissenters’ “thoughtful and caring response to what you all are perceiving,” calling it “a true model of how to be in community.” An attached letter was purported to “address the points” the signatories had made, but its contents made no reference to a single argument or concern they raised, speaking only in vague terms about “maintaining ethical standards.” Israel and Zionism were unmentioned.
Nonetheless, the dissenting letter did seem to have an impact. The next month, AASECT announced it would shutter its listserv altogether. “It’s clear they wanted to just silence the whole lot of us,” the whistleblower says. This was nonetheless reversed in August 2024, albeit only temporarily, “until our tech team, board, moderation committee have had a chance to implement a new forum,” the Association explained. The same communication promised exciting free training on “crucial topics” ahead, including “Understanding Jewish Identity and Antisemitism” and “Reproductive Justice and Gender-Based Violence in the Muslim Community.”
‘Particularly Underwhelming’
Fast-forward to February 7 this year and all AASECT members were cordially invited to attend a free webinar, Disrupting Anti-Jewish Ideas in the Current Political Climate, scheduled for two weeks hence. It was led by Sophia McGee of Project Shema. Attendees were told they would learn “who Jews are, what antisemitism is, and how it operates” and “leave with a greater understanding of the Jewish community’s identities, lived experiences, and traumas, better prepared to be allies to the Jewish community.”
A sex therapist who participated in the event subsequently wrote to their Association peers, expressing grave concerns about its content. They noted that McGee markedly pledged to avoid discussing issues related to the “Israel/Palestine ‘conflict,’” and she was true to her word. At no point did McGee make any reference at all to Israeli land theft, ethnic cleansing, illegal occupation, apartheid or mass repression and murder of Palestinians since 1947. Instead, “there was perpetual language that indicated Zionism is about Jewish right to self-determination.”
While McGee claimed she didn’t endorse Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza and opened up the floor for queries, unseen AASECT moderators controlled what was asked, and no participant appeared on camera or was able to speak directly. Numerous awkward questions the sex therapist submitted “about how Zionism has been weaponized and used to justify the occupation” of Palestinian lands, the necessity of “separating Jewish people from Zionism,” and whether narratives about self-determination served as “a defense or a side-step for ethnic cleansing” were ignored.
Another attendee echoed their concerns and sentiments, voicing disappointment at “the lack of acknowledgment or discussion around Zionism and the occupation of Palestine.” They were also flummoxed by McGee’s claim that the Jewish right to self-determination “does not negate the right to self-determination for other people who share that historic homeland,” given Zionism is an inherently nationalist, supremacist political movement. Perhaps not coincidentally, McGee’s responses to questions regarding “the intersectionality of being Jewish and black” were said to be “particularly underwhelming.”
They were, moreover, shocked to learn so many questions were unanswered and “hidden from view,” leading them to “wonder how many others were similarly overlooked or ignored.” In closing, they noted there was a pronounced lack of proposed “practical tools to actually combat antisemitism outside of actively listening and empathizing” during the webinar. In other words, take Zionists at each and every word without challenge. By contrast, “listening and empathizing” with Palestinians and their countless supporters worldwide is, of course, out of the question.
Despite these glaring deficits, Project Shema has clearly upped its Hasbara game since delivering its first training days at U.S. public schools last year. Then, the organization framed its tutorials as apolitical in advance before blasting attendees with unrelenting pro-Zionist propaganda propounding the toxic lie that any and all criticism of Israel is antisemitic while extolling Tel Aviv’s supposed cultural and political virtues. Now, the same insidious script McGee delivered to AASECT members is being toured around U.S. universities.
Where and what Project Shema will strike next is anyone’s guess. But the anonymous Association whistleblower is under no illusions that the organization’s poisonous tendrils will keep on extending ever further if AASECT’s wrecking by Zionist forces remains concealed from public view. The entire perverse rigmarole has moreover compelled them to sever their longstanding ties with the organization despite potential personal and professional costs involved. They hope others will draw lessons from their experience:
This isn’t an isolated case. I’ve seen funding continually being taken away from organizations in my field speaking up against Israel, and others issue statements condemning only alleged Hamas atrocities. I don’t want to be associated with AASECT and their values, so I have not renewed my membership. My professional certification, which I spent a lot of time and money on, will expire. This is fine, I will be okay. I don’t want the record to show AASECT’s actions are innocent and we should continue giving them our respect, money, time, and trust.”
AASECT was approached by MintPress News for comment but did not respond prior to publication.
Feature photo | Illustration by MintPress News
Kit Klarenberg is an investigative journalist and MintPress News contributor exploring the role of intelligence services in shaping politics and perceptions. His work has previously appeared in The Cradle, Declassified UK, and Grayzone. Follow him on Twitter @KitKlarenberg.
