The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Statement on Jew Hate: Too Little Too Late

Four Days of Silence

It took four days for NASW to make any mention of the pogrom carried out against Jews gathered on Bondi Beach celebrating the first night of Chanukah. It remains unclear what prompted the statement today.

The image chosen to accompany their words, whether intentional or not, evokes the red hands, a deeply traumatic symbol for Jews and Israelis. For many, it is an enduring emblem of violence and hatred tied to a specific history of bloodshed.

Institutional Antizionism


NASW’s statement might carry more weight had it also acknowledged its own role in perpetuating antizionism within the organization. Years of brush-offs, inaction, and exclusionary practices have had real consequences for the emotional safety and well-being of Jewish social workers and Jewish clients.

For many of us, even this past week alone has kept our nervous systems on high alert. We will endure, as we always have. Those of us who have been in the field for decades, who are relatively resourced, and who have learned how to build community when institutions fall silent, will find our footing. But what of those who are struggling? Newer clinicians. Jewish colleagues already marginalized in the field. Those without financial or professional stability. Does NASW not bear responsibility to them, as it claims to do for every other minority group it represents?

NASW is social work’s governing body. It is meant to provide steadiness, leadership, and moral clarity in moments of collective harm. The organization takes pride in its stated commitment to social justice and care. Yet in practice, NASW has engaged in the intentional exclusion of its Jewish members. Again and again, we have looked to NASW wondering whether its systemic antizionism might finally shift.

Performative Concern

For days, there was silence. No acknowledgment of the massacre carried out by two terrorists who murdered a Holocaust survivor, a ten-year-old girl, and fourteen others gathered peacefully in community. No recognition that Jews were killed while celebrating Chanukah, a holiday that commemorates an ancient attempt to annihilate us in Jerusalem, and when the Maccabees against all odds, persevered against those who wished us dead?

When a statement finally appeared, NASW declared itself appalled by the rise in antisemitism, writing: “When the dignity and value of any human being is denied, the dignity and value of every human being is threatened, and at NASW we simply cannot be silent and allow that to happen.”

This rings hollow. NASW has remained silent when Jewish members sent letters, emails, and petitions to no avail. The organization was silent when Israeli social workers were collectively censured, a censure later weaponized by some US social workers to justify discrimination, dehumanization, gaslighting, and hate toward Israelis and Jews.

Even the brutality of October 7 was acknowledged only when folded into a broader statement, rather than named plainly and independently, as any other group would expect. Since October 7, antisemitic incidents within our field have multiplied. NASW’s social media pages erupted with vitriolic hate following a simple Jewish Heritage Month post. Jewish social workers reached out asking for support, or at the very least, for a clear condemnation of the abuse that hijacked a benign cultural recognition. Many asked only that antisemitism not be diluted by bundling it with every other societal ill.

Meanwhile, NASW posted about Rob and Michele Reiner the very evening of the Bondi massacre, which to be clear is also tragic. But the contrast is impossible to ignore.

One can only imagine the conversations happening behind closed doors: calculations about optics, backlash, and attention. And yet, it could’ve been so simple, NASW. The silence speaks volumes as it has for over two years.

Now we see a new (or new‑ish) page highlighting antisemitism that has appeared over this last year. But it directs readers to a generalized helpline doesn’t cover the hate movement of our time, antizionism. To be clear, antizionism perpetuates libels, gaslights Jews, and dehumanizes Israelis and Jews on repeat. Aimed at therapists, clients, colleagues. Social Workers in the field, like psychologists, have been taken by this movement as we hear daily.

Offering a generic helpline is profoundly tone-deaf. Does NASW truly believe that distressed Jews, who have been raising the alarm for years, would feel safe turning to unknown clinicians in a field where antizionist hostility has gone largely unchecked?

As this hostility has intensified, Jews have been forced to find support elsewhere: our own therapists, Jewish or not, and trusted colleagues and friends who reject the prevailing hate. Presenting a generalized resource without regard for Jewish emotional safety is negligent. It suggests that Jews were either not consulted at all, or that only those aligned with a hostile ideological framework were included.

Dereliction of Duty

We are no longer surprised by NASW’s neglect of Jewish people, most of whom seek nothing more than safety, recognition, and support. When an institution refuses to speak, that refusal is the statement. NASW describes itself as a steward of justice and care. But those words only carry meaning when they are applied consistently. Failing to do so harms not only Jewish members, but the very foundation of the social work profession itself. To ignore the antizionism that is prevalent within our field is wholly unethical. We will not be silent in the face of it.

For more information on what has unfolded within the field of social work: