Palestine Writes Stands in Solidarity with MP Jeremy Corbyn

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | OCTOBER 31, 2020

The Palestine Writes Literature Festival stands in solidarity with UK Member of Parliament Islington North, and leader of the Labour Party in UK 2015/2020, Jeremy Corbyn.

Corbyn, one of the most principled individuals in politics today, has been wrongfully and unfairly suspended by the leader of his own party, Keir Starmer. This move by Starmer is an extension of long-standing neoliberal efforts to crush the socialist left in general, and in particular those who aim to hold Israel accountable for its ongoing war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Jeremy Corbyn’s life-long commitment to and struggle for universal human dignity, living wages, public healthcare, strong education, and social justice, both at home and abroad, have made him hugely popular among his own constituencies in the UK and internationally among those fighting for a more just and equitable world, where workers are afforded the chance to live dignified lives, and the powerful are held accountable for their crimes.

His popularity with the global masses have made him a target of right-wing and neoliberal forces who seek to squash all criticism of Israel and support for Palestinian self-determination in their own homeland.

Corbyn’s commitments to justice in Palestine are consistent with his opposition to South African apartheid forty years ago. As leader of the Labor Party, Corbyn helped direct the Labour party to end support for British arms sales to Israel. More than anything, this was perhaps what made him a target.

After he ended his tenure as Labor Party leader in April of this year, Palestinian writer and activist Ghada Karmi wrote that his leaving power “is nothing short of a tragedy. It means the loss of a man of principle – the first, and possibly the last, British political leader with the conscience to recognise Britain’s historical betrayal of the Palestinian people, and the moral responsibility to put it right”

The attacks on Corbyn are especially egregious acts of bad faith given the real racists, tyrants and bullies who currently run nations like Donald Trump in the U.S. and Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil.

The world needs more, not fewer, Jeremy Corbyns in positions of world leadership.

Palestine Writes will celebrate Corbyn’s long-time commitment to humanity, in particular his support for Palestinian freedom, at our literature festival in December, where he will join Hanan Ashrawi and Angela Davis as keynote speakers.

We meanwhile urge people of conscience everywhere to stand with Corbyn.