Protests Highlighting Conflict in Gaza Disrupt Psychedelic Culture Conference – Lucid News

The 10th annual Psychedelic Culture Conference, known for its commitment to indigenous reciprocity and platforming of diverse voices, became a flashpoint last weekend for divergent views about the development of psychedelic-assisted therapies in Israel as Israeli forces continue military operations in Gaza.  

Hosted by the Chacruna Institute at the Brava Theater for Women in San Francisco, the spirit of the 1960s psychedelic revolution, war resistance, and free speech movement could be felt, seen, and heard at the conference as speakers and participants debated and tried to find common ground. 

In her opening remarks as the conference began, Chacruna Institute founder Bia Labate called on attendees to “hold on to what matters – the ethics, the relationships, the roots, the complexity, while the field accelerates around us.â€Â 

“I want to ask for your discomfort:†she added. “Your willingness to sit with questions that don't resolve. Your willingness to be challenged –  by a speaker, [or] by a conversation.â€

“Stay in the tension… between celebration and critiqueâ€Â  Labate continued. “Between what this movement has accomplished and what it still has not done. Between the world we want to build and the world we are actually building.â€

Protests Over A MAPS Affiliate In Israel Interrupts Closing Panel

The conference featured three days of presentations by indigenous healers and critical discussions about legal reforms and the medicalization of traditional plant medicines. During the last panel of the conference, a small, vocal group of protestors rose to their feet in the main auditorium and interrupted staff members of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) who were speaking on stage. 

What followed the disruption was the continuation of a long-running debate about research into psychedelic therapies carried out by MAPS' affiliate organization MAPS Israel which is taking place amidst the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Into the tension between the aspirations and realities of social justice stepped the protesters who say they are morally compelled to engage the complex geopolitical realities of the psychedelic renaissance. 

As the closing discussion panel titled “Science, Culture, and the Evolving Role of Psychedelic Research Today†rounded the 15-minute mark, Shalie West, a graduate student with a background in educational sociology, stood up and loudly interjected, “I'm sorry, but how can we discuss saving lives and revolutionary justice when we're actively in a genocide?â€

“And MAPS is working with the state of Israel,†said one of West's fellow protestors – who later self-identified as Jewish but requested that their full identity be kept anonymous. 

According to its website, MAPS Israel “is actively advancing and developing studies that explore the combined effects of psychotherapy and psychedelics… [that] are conducted with the approval and cooperation of the Israeli Ministry of Health and mental health hospitals.â€

In response to the disruption, Labate quickly stood up and attempted to de-escalate while supporting the dialogue. She offered participants who raised concerns the opportunity to be “the first person to speak†during the post-panel Q&A session in exchange for giving the panel time to finish.

Following the closing discussion, which included MAPS founder Rick Doblin, along with MAPS co-executive directors Ismail Ali and Betty Aldworth, a number of audience members and conference attendees commented that the protest itself was a testament to the culture of critical discourse that Chacruna has fostered. Some noted that it showed a willingness to engage the ongoing debate about mental health research and training programs at prominent Israeli healthcare facilities which operate with the support of the Israeli government. 

Reactions from audience members to the protesters varied widely, reflecting the divergent views about complex Middle East conflicts present throughout the U.S. A number of audience members angrily urged the protesters to “sit down and shut up.†Some actively cheered on the protesters' comments, clapping in solidarity. A sizeable portion of the audience appeared to boo loudly in response to a statement made by Doblin from the stage, where he responded to the protestors' request that MAPS condemn the “genocide in Gaza,†saying that he “wouldn't call [the conflict in Gaza] a genocide.â€

The allegation that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza has been addressed in a United Nations Commission Report released in September 2025 which concluded that “Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.â€

Post-Conference Conversations Reveal Nuanced Discourse and Rhetorical Roadblocks

After a pointed but thoughtful back-and-forth between the protesters, Doblin, Ali and Aldworth, the panel discussion concluded with moderator Grace Crepe encouraging the protesters to seek out the panelists for more dialog following the conference's closing statements and ceremonies.

The protesters did exactly that.

Speaking at length with Doblin and other members of the MAPS team on the sidewalk in front of the Brava Center for nearly an hour, those present for the discussion recorded their exchange. The conversation included candid and emotionally charged comments from protesters which Doblin appeared to receive with a calm demeanor.

During the sidewalk summit, one protester told Doblin, “The way you speak about [the Israel-Palestine conflict] makes me feel unsafe in my body.â€

Doblin responded in part by stating plainly, “I agree Israel has been doing terrible [things],†while adding that he regretted his comments on stage regarding Gaza. “I fell into an argument that I shouldn't have fallen into, which is ‘what is the meaning [of genocide],' and instead I could have agreed with you on all the terrible things the Israeli government is doing.â€

Doblin continued to offer his perspective on the political complexities for all people in the region. “There's also a lot of people in Israel trying to do the right thing too,†Doblin said. “I don't think that Israel should just disappear, but I think there should be coexistence. Solutions that don't involve mass violence.â€

The conversation then took a deeply personal turn when another protester chimed in, revealing to Doblin, “We're both Jewish.â€

“I have a lot of family in Israel; I have a lot of family who fled from the Holocaust, from the pogroms,†the protester, who declined to give their name, explained. “I do not stand with Israel at all. I don't enjoy this violence in our name. And as Jews, it's horrifying to see the evils that were perpetrated upon our ancestors being perpetrated against another generation.â€

Doblin replied by reiterating his own deeply rooted connection to that shared history. “I've been surrounded my entire life by Holocaust survivors, by survivors of the pogroms, by people who fled from Turkey, Spain, Russia, [and] Germany.â€

“All of the empathy that they taught me,†Doblin continued, visibly moved, “all of the lessons that they found important, are exactly why I stand against this and why I find it so heartbreaking.†He added, “I think the Israeli government is some of the worst leaders and most racist.â€

The lengthy follow-up conversation ended with mutual gratitude expressed by both parties for their willingness to engage in sometimes painful discourse, rather than retreating into ideological silos. Following the extended exchange, Doblin, along with a number of MAPS employees and Chacruna Institute staff members, ventured to a nearby restaurant. Not long after, a few of the protesters happened to walk into the same establishment.

According to multiple eyewitnesses, additional dialogue between Doblin and the protesters ensued, after which one of the protesters expressed their longstanding admiration for Doblin's decades of pioneering work in the psychedelic field and asked him for his autograph, to which Doblin obliged.

Doblin Reflects After the Protest Goes Viral

In the days following the protest, video clips of the initial exchange during the closing panel circulated rapidly across social media, drawing fierce debate within global psychedelic communities. 

Lucid News sat down with one of the protesters involved in the conference protests, as well as Doblin and Ali, to gauge their thoughts after reflecting on the heated discussions. 

In a statement provided exclusively to Lucid News, West highlighted that the Palestinian people's struggle for basic human rights sits at the core of her personal concerns over MAPS Israel's work with both Israelis and Palestinians alike.

“Folks fighting for their lives cannot begin the process of healing while they are caught in a struggle for the simple right to exist†said West. “They especially cannot heal under the facilitation of their active oppressor. To even question that reality reflects a level of privilege and distance from the lived experience of those directly impacted.â€

Doblin noted during his interview with Lucid News that, based on the conversations he had with the protesters after the conference ended, he believes they “have much more that they agree on than disagree.â€

“I think what we would probably agree on is that there was a major missed opportunity by Israel to really create a situation where everybody who lived inside Israel, including Israeli Arabs [and] Palestinians, would all be treated fairly,†Doblin stated.

Doblin was quick to note that while he understands the protesters' primary objection is to MAPS' ongoing work with the State of Israel in any capacity, he noted that the organizational structure of MAPS is highly decentralized. “Affiliates like MAPS Israel are independent organizations with independent governance from MAPS…. we don't have any authority there.â€

“They have their own separate board of directors,†continued Doblin. “They are their own separate organization, their own separate leadership, but they do have trademark agreements with MAPS, and if we felt that they were doing something that violated the trademark agreements, we could take the name away.â€

In his eyes, Doblin said he believed that the protesters were “not even trying to understand who actually runs MAPS Israel.â€

Doblin also reiterated his long-standing support for and active engagement with left-wing Israeli political parties, stating more than once that the Benjamin Netanyahu-led Israeli government is “one of the most racist†in the nation's history.

When pressed for further clarification around how he would define the term “genocide†–  the very debate that sparked the loud chorus of boos at the Brava Theater – Doblin highlighted his personal understanding of the formal internationally-recognized definitions. “The way that I have come to understand that term, and I understand there's different ways to define that term, means an intent to murder an entire group of people,†Doblin explained. 

According to the UN Special Advisor on the Prevention of Genocide, the following actions are considered [genocide], if committed with the requisite intent: “killing, murdering members of the group; causing severe physical or mental damage, including torture, rape, or sexual violence; deliberately inflicting conditions of life designed to cause physical destruction, such as withholding food, medical supplies, or shelter.â€

“Well, Israel definitely did that in Gaza,†said Doblin after reading the list of criteria out loud. He further clarified his internal conflict with the defination of the word “genocide,â€stating that he “[does not] believe that Israel is trying to kill all of the Palestinians.†Doblin added that he also does not believe the Israeli Defense Force (IDF)'s actions in Gaza meet all the historical criteria often associated with the term, such as “preventing births, measures to hinder procreation, forced sterilization, forced abortion, [and] separation of men and women.â€

See Also

In response to the protesters' claims that MAPS was continuing to work with the State of Israel, Doblin emphasized that MAPS' organizational footprint around the world is rooted firmly in a non-partisan mission dedicated to healing trauma universally, regardless of borders. He said that his support for peace in the Gaza Strip aligns with what polls show is a strong majority of Israeli citizens who support ending the war in Gaza.

“The point I guess I was trying to make in the further conversations,†Doblin added, “is that we're doing work with Palestinians. We're doing work with Israeli Arabs. We're doing work in Lebanon. We're trying to work on all sides of all different conflicts, including, in the United States, trying to get bipartisan support.â€

Doblin also pointed out what he sees as the inherent hypocrisy in geographically targeted boycotts involving a U.S.-based organization, noting, “We could equally criticize Americans for what's going on [regarding actions] that America is doing.â€

MAPS Leadership and Protesters Respond

Ali's views as co-executive director of MAPS reflected a distinct contrast to Doblin's comments during the panel discussion. Ali pointedly interjected amidst the audience's boos following Doblin's initial commentary on the calls for condemnation of genocide, stating on stage that he himself disagreed with Doblin's assessment.

Ali noted that prior to the protesters' disruption of the discussion panel, he had already spoken with some of these participants outside the theater for roughly twenty minutes, listening to their concerns. In an interview after the conference, Ali further reiterated his overall support for the protesters' right to engage in critical discourse. He also affirmed their right to critique the conflict in Gaza, the actions of the Israeli military, MAPS' organizational work with its Israeli affiliate, and the broader socioeconomic and indigenous touchpoints facing the mainstreaming of psychedelics.

In the statement West provided to Lucid News, the complexity and strong feelings within this ongoing dialogue are evident. “I chose to speak out at the conference because I am tired of the performative activism in the psychedelic space, and I am tired of expecting those most impacted by harm to carry the burden of advocating for themselves,†wrote West. “The entire conversation around healing, at this present moment, is a completely moot point while Palestinians and other marginalized communities are facing an active genocide.â€

West made it clear that her grievances with MAPS are systemic and ongoing. “I am not the first person to question MAPS' connection to Israel, the work they are doing there, and the broader implications of that work. Meanwhile, Rick Doblin and MAPS leadership continue to deflect and make disingenuous statements riddled with contradictions. At present, their messaging attempts to cultivate a narrative of peace that is built on exclusion, while ignoring ongoing, well-documented harm.â€

“If MAPS is truly committed to justice and global healing,†West's statement continued, “they must be intentional and transparent with their actions, and they must align with the broader goals of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions [BDS] movement.†According to West, this includes “ending the occupation and dismantling the apartheid wall, ensuring full equality for Arab-Palestinian citizens, and respecting the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes.â€

“Anything less than a full commitment to ending the genocide and supporting justice for this community is an ethically hollow aspiration,†she declared. 

“When individuals in positions of power enter spaces like this, they carry a responsibility to listen, to be accountable, and to protect the integrity of that space, not to reproduce the same harms,†West concluded.

A Complex Community Path Forward

While reflecting on divergence of strongly held views during the conference's closing day, Ali was quick to “give props to†Labate. He praised her for “immediately†standing up when the objections first began, offering the protesters an opportunity “to be the first in line†to ask  questions during the post-panel Q&A session.

 According to Ali, Labate's on-the-spot efforts to ensure the protesters were offered a sanctioned, respectful opportunity to voice their specific concerns “was… a massive testament to Bia as an organizer.â€

For his part, Ali emphasized his respect for the actions at the conference that some saw as disruptive. “I really honor the spirit of what they were trying to do, and I also know that it's a complex thing that we're engaging with,†he said.

“I don't want to be punching down,†Ali added. “These were young activists that really cared about something that I also really care about, and I think that there's a lot of ways to go about getting yourself heard.â€

In a statement provided by Labate via email after the conference, she recalled that “I asked [the protestors] to ask their question in the microphone so all people could listen, but they refused and chose instead to shout over the auditorium.â€

Labate added that, “I could not hear well and did not understand their specific issues [with MAPS], other than what seemed a generic feeling that MAPS [has] an affiliate organization in Israel and Rick [could] be Zionist.â€

Labate pointed out that from her vantage point, “there was no clarity on [the protestor's] specific issues with MAPS' current programs or policies.â€

As participants integrate the discussions that unfolded at the Psychedelic Culture conference, the events of the weekend appear to underscore the importance of community spaces where divergent views can be heard. As indigenous plant medicine traditions move toward greater cultural awareness, and research into psychedelic-assisted therapies are fast-tracked by the U.S. government, the foundational embrace of free expression also continues – along with more than fifty years of conversations about psychedelics in U.S. civic culture.  

Ali acknowledged the wide range of views about the future of psychedelics while demonstrating his own right to free speech about Gaza, healing and human dignity. “My perspective,†said Ali, is that “the conflict is actually not so complex… I'm on the side of people who think it's pretty straightforward, actually.â€

Looking at the monumental challenges of respecting all views, while not turning away from suffering, Ali emphasized the need for clear-eyed humility by leaders of all psychedelic communities. “The nature of how we do this in community is really complex,†said Ali, “and that's something that we have to honor.â€