Hundreds of Israeli citizens send letter of support to Jeremy Corbyn

Hot on the heels of letters signed by thirty-four leading Orthodox rabbis and other Charedim in support of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, almost 300 Israeli citizens have signed a letter in support of Corbyn and the Labour Party.

Prominent signatories include:

• academics Bashir Abu-Manneh, Avraham Oz and Shlomo Sand
• artists  such as singer Amal Murkus, playwright Einat Weizman
• filmmaker Maysaloun Hamoud
• figures from left-wing political parties such as
  – MK Aida Touma-Suleiman, Dr Afo Agbariah, Chair of the Democratic Front for Peace and Equality (Hadash/al-Jabha)
• Uri Ansenberg, head of Meretz’s Tel Aviv branch
• Secretary General of the National Democratic Union (Balad/Tajama’u)  Shihadeh Mtanes

The letter states:

Dear friends,

We are Jewish and Palestinian citizens of Israel, committed to civil equality within Israel, to an end to the occupation and the blockade of Gaza, to a just peace and justice for the Palestinian refugees. The solidarity of progressive forces abroad is vital to our struggle, and we therefore welcomed the election of Jeremy Corbyn, a committed campaigner for peace, as leader of the British Labour Party.

Since his election, Corbyn has been subjected to sustained attacks for his supposed friendliness to antisemitism. We reject the substance of these accusations completely, and we note that some of Corbyn’s accusers, such as Israeli PM Binyamin Netanyahu, are themselves notorious racists and allies of known antisemites, such as Viktor Orbán and the Polish nationalists. We also note that, even as many of Corbyn’s critics claim to respect the right to criticize Israel in theory, in practice their attacks seem designed to shut down debate on Israel-Palestine and prevent a future Labour government from applying any real pressure on Israel to change its policies.

At the same time, we recognize the reality of antisemitism, including on the left, and we applaud Labour’s sustained efforts to fight it within its ranks. These efforts are free from the hypocrisy of the right, which decries antisemitism, real and imagined, while openly encouraging racism of other kinds. In a global climate of rising fascism, this hypocrisy is extremely dangerous. In order to combat it, it is absolutely necessary to repudiate antisemitism while also standing up for Palestinian rights and for socialism.

We call upon all friends of Israeli-Palestinian peace to join the Labour Party’s leadership in its unequivocal commitment to creating a politics free of hate and prejudice, and to support us in working together toward a future without oppression and discrimination in Israel and Palestine. Labour friends, we wish you success in your upcoming National Conference and in the struggles ahead.

A full list of signatories is below.

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Signatories:

Dr. Bashir Abu-Manneh, Reader, University of Kent
Raida Adon, Actor and artist
Dr. Afo Agbaria, Chair, Democratic Front for Peace and Equality
Uri Ansenberg, Chair, Tel Aviv Branch, Meretz Party
Ron Gerlitz, Co-Executive Director, Sikkuy – Association for Advancement of Civil Equality
Maysaloun Hamoud, Filmmaker, Bar Bahar
Dr. Ruchama Marton, Founding President, Physicians for Human Rights
Amal Murkus, Singer and actor
Avraham Oz, Associate Professor Emeritus, University of Haifa
Shlomo Sand, Professor Emeritus, Tel Aviv University
MK Aida Touma-Suleiman, Member of Knesset, Democratic Front for Peace and Equality / Joint List
Ami Vatury, Co-General Secretary, Koach La’ovdim – Democratic Workers’ Federation
Einat Weizman, Actor and playwright
Meital Abekasis
Jawad Abu Elhaija
Udi Adiv
Amro Agbaria
Gadi Algazi
Udi Aloni
Taha Amar
Hana Amoury
Daud Amsis
Yonathan Anson
Daniel Arbell
Oded Assaf
Zohar Atai
Liran Atzmor
Rotem Avneri Meir
Noam Bahat
Abeer Baker
Barith Ball
Daphne Banai
Eitan Bar-Adam
Omri Bar-Adam
Racheli Bar-Or
Zohar Bareket
Tahir Bashir
Outi Bat-El Foux
Dalit Baum
Moshe Behar
Yoav Beirach
Ofra Ben Artzi
Itamar Ben Yair
Omri Ben Yehuda
Avner Ben-amos
Ronnen Ben-Arie
Ofra Ben-Artzi
Adi Ben-Naim
Naor Ben-Yehoyada
Ayelet Ben-Yishai
Ruthy Benhalevy
Yael Berda
Abraham Berg
Si Berrebi
Shimshon Bichler
Ada Bilu
Eli Bitan
Avi Blecherman
Matan Boord
Haim Bresheeth
Aya Breuer
Lynsey Butler
Asaf Calderon
Sara Carmeli
Shai Carmeli Pollak
Ofer Cassif
Eliyahu Caufman
Zohar Chamberlain Regev
Rachel Chayut
Eyal Clyne
Ilan Cohen
Ron Cohen
Fathi Dacca
Adi Dagan
Yossi Dahan
Silan Dallal
Efraim Davidi
Uri Davis
Dror Dayan
Hilla Dayan
David Degani
Aim Deuelle Luski
Tommy Dreyfus
Said Egbaria
Avishai Ehrlich
Aviva Ein-Gil
Yaakov Eitan
Awatef El-Sheikh
Anat Even
Omri Evron
Debbie Eylon
Micky Fischer
Nimrod Flaschenberg
Tamar Fleishman
Nadav Franckovich
Miriam Frank
Gideon Freudenthal
Naveh Frumer
Shoshana Gabay
Alma Ganihar
Raed Ghattas
Avner Giladi
Rachel Giora
Snait Gissis
Amos Goldberg
Tsilli Goldenberg
Oded Goldreich
Dalia Golomb
Tamar Miriam Gomel
Neve Gordon
Amos Gvirtz
Dalia Hager
Tamar Hager
Barakat Haj Hussein
Eran Hakim
Avishay Halavy
Irit Halavy
Hava Halevi
Yasmine Halevi
Yuval Halperin
Ilana Hammerman Nieraad
Sanaa Hammoud
Ariel Hanaor
Tal Haran
Dov Harel
Tali Harkavi
Iris Hefets
Rami Heled
Liad Hussein Kantorowicz
Hedva Isachar
Alma Itzhaky
Qwedir Jaber
Hasan Jasar
Devorah Kalekin-Fishman
Eitan Kalinsky
Ester Kalinsky
Carmel Kaminer
Matan Kaminer
Micha Kaminer
Abed Kanaaneh
Jacob Katriel
Alma Katz
Gal Katz
Noa Kaufman
Adam Keller
Nisreen Khoury Assily
Avi Klein
Vered Kraus
Yoram Kupermintz
Ron Kuzar
Josef Laor
Nitzan Lebovic
Ronit Lentin
Yael Lerer
Debby Lerman
Micah Leshem
Noa Levy
Oded Lifshitz
Adi Liraz
Yosefa Loshitzky
Amnon Lotan
Yuval Lotem
Eyad Mahameed
Issam Makhoul
David L. Mandel
Ya’acov Manor
Remonda Mansour
Adam Maor
Ronit Marian-Kadishay
Anat Matar
Haggai Matar
Rela Mazali
Adi Medini Shosberger
Gilad Melzer
Ishai Menuchin
Esti Micenmacher
Chen Misgav
Ghassan (Jessy) Monayer
Reut Mor
Shihadeh Mtanes
Ben Tzion Munitz
Ribina Mustafa
Dorit Naaman
Elias Nasrallah
Sadik Nassar
Idit Nathan
Regev Nathansohn
Smadar Nehab-Kaminer
Ofer Neiman
Giyora Neumann
Isaac Nevo
Ephraim Nimni
Orly Noy
Fedel Odeh
May Omar Omary
Adi Ophir
Ayelet Ophir
Norah Orlow
Hadas Pe’ery
Jonatan Peled
Nurit Peled Elhanan
Michal Peleg
Halleli Pinson
Einat Podjarny
Yael Politi
Nurit Popper
Yisrael Puterman
Tamar Raphael
Ofek Ravid
Shlomo Regev
Fanny-Michaela Reisin
Anat Reisman-Levy
Anat Rimon Or
John Rosenblum
Maya Rosenfeld
Yehoshua Rosin
Natalie Rothman
Catherine Rottenberg
Eddie Saar
Hannah Safran
Yoav Sagi
Omar Said
Jiriess Sakas
Samah Salaime
Maisam Salem
Tamar Sarfatti
Herzl Schubert
Yosef Schwartz
Haim Scortariu
Raz Segal
Irit Segoli
Shai Shabtai
Itamar Shachar
Yaniv Shachar
Yara Shahine
Uri Shani
Tzvia Shapira
Tali Shapiro
Itamar Shappira
Smadar Sharon
Amjad Shbita
Mati Shemoelof
Yael Sherill
Dimitry Shevchenko
Nufar Shimony
Stavit Sinai
Iris Singer
Ora Slonim
Itay Snir
Kobi Snitz
Amos Sorgen
Simcha Srebnik
Talila Stan
Iftach Starik
Gadi Sternbach
Ariella Sturm
Bilha Sündermann Golan
Marcelo Svirsky
Yousef Taha
Assaf Tamari
Zvi Tauber
Amir Terkel
Lily Traubmann
Ben Trooper
Rivka Vitenberg
Roy Wagner
Tirza Waisel
Dan Walfisch
Hadas Weiss
Elian Weizman
Uri Weltmann
Noga Wolff
Aurora Yaacov
Abraham Yaari
Haim Yacobi
Rama Yacobi
Tamar Yaron
Mahmoud Yazbak
Melzer Yehuda
Ofra Yeshua-Lyth
Oren Yiftachel
Or Yizhar
Revital Yonay
Yuval Yonay
Rami Younis
itamar Yron
Kim Yuval
Raja Zaatry
Michal Zak
Beate Zilversmidt
Hanna Zohar
Raef Zreik
Moshe Zuckermann
Yehonatan Zur