We stand with Jeremy Corbyn as a genuine internationalist and inspiration to progressive forces around the world

Jeremy Corbyn has been a champion of decency and an ally to all movements fighting racism, colonialism, and exploitation.

As leader of the Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn not only spoke out about the ills of anti-Semitism in British society broadly. He also took the issue of anti-Semitism in his own party seriously, listening to the concerns of Jewish constituents and improving the process for investigating and sanctioning cases of anti-Semitism.

As fierce opponents of anti-Semitism, we abhor the weaponization of Jewish pain against the project of socialism and the legacy of Corbyn’s leadership in the United Kingdom.

The evidence of such efforts to weaponize the issue of anti-Semitism is clear. The majority of the British public now believe that a third of Labour Party members — a full 200,000 people — are the subject of anti-Semitism allegations. The truth is less than 2,000, less than 0.3 per cent of the party.

The campaign against the character of Corbyn did not begin with the issue of anti-Semitism, and it will not end here. A principled defence of the Jewish community demands that we distinguish between genuine appreciation of the community’s pain and cynical attempts to ride it toward political reaction.

We, members of the Progressive International, know that Corbyn is under attack because of his life-long fight to transform Britain, to dismantle empire, and to defend the rights to care, peace, and freedom.

We, members of the Progressive International, stand united in the defence of Corbyn, in defence of decency, and for the future of socialism in Britain and around the world.

Signatories

Celso Amorim
Former Foreign Minister of Brazil

Renata Ávila
International human rights lawyer

Alicia Castro
Former Ambassador of Argentina and Trade Union leader

Noam Chomsky
Laureate Professor of Linguistics, University of Arizona

Nikhil Dey
Founder-Member of Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS)

Srećko Horvat
Co-Founder, DiEM25

Scott Ludlam
Former Senator, Australian Greens

John McDonnell
Member of Parliament for Hayes and Harlington

Vijay Prashad
Director of the Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research

Aruna Roy
Founder-Member, Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS)

Pierre Sané
Founder-President, Imagine Africa Institute

Ahdaf Soueif
Author, Founder of Palestinian Festival of Literature

Yanis Varoufakis
Member of the Hellenic Parliament and the Secretary-General of MeRA25

This article was originally published by the Progressive International

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