Professor Andrew Colman is an internationally renowned British Jewish psychologist and scholar. He is a Professor of Psychology at the University of Leicester and a Fellow of the British Psychological Society (BPS). Colman grew up in South Africa, worked for periods at both the University of Cape Town and Rhodes University before moving in 1970.
Professor Colman’s academic achievements span experimental and social psychology, as well as decision theory. His Oxford Dictionary of Psychology is a standard global reference. His research in game theory and cooperative behavior reveals how individuals and groups make choices in complex conflicts. This deep understanding of irrationality and group bias allows him to analyze the psychological struggles over Jewish identity and Zionism with penetrating clarity.
As a supporter of Jewish Voice for Labour (JVL), he analyzes how the IHRA definition uses emotional association rather than logical analysis to suppress free speech. He views the conflation of criticism of Israel with hatred of Jews as a psychological tactic designed to create a “chilling effect.”
Between 2023 and 2026, he has signed numerous letters from leading UK academics condemning the crackdown on pro-Palestine voices on campuses. He maintains that universities must remain havens for free thought rather than tools of political censorship.
He has publicly defended internationalist visions, arguing that much of the opposition was based on “moral panic” manufactured by media narratives—a process he feels duty-bound to expose as a psychologist.
He actively participates in academic petitions calling for an end to the siege of Gaza and for sanctions against breaches of international law, rejecting “balanced” narratives that ignore the reality of apartheid.