30 DEFEND CORBYN

A number of prominent lefties have responded to the recent letter opposing Jeremy Corbyn by writing an open letter of their own.  Published in the NME, the 30 individuals are clearly outraged by the suggestion that Corbyn is somehow anti-Semitic or encourages anti-Semitism.  Some of the signatories are Jewish, clearly putting their faith in communism before the survival of their own kin.  How ironic that the word 'pogrom' is a Russian word.

While the 24 signatories to the anti-Corbyn letter were hardly a collection of household names, these 30 are possibly even more obscure.  We tried to identify them all, but failed in one instance - Robert Cohen?  There are a few usual suspects - Alexei Sayle, Maxine Peake, Steve Coogan.  Presumably they are either confident that their endorsement will exempt them from Corbyn's crippling taxation or they are cynically offshoring their wealth in preparation.

One key difference between the anti-Corbyn and pro-Corbyn signatories appears to be nationality.  While the anti-Corbyn signatories were almost exclusively British, almost a third of the pro-Corbyn signatures were foreign.  Some of them have no links with this country and can't even vote in our elections, including Hollywood hard left activist Mark Ruffalo and Canadian commie Naomi Klein.  Corbynistas are the first to complain when President Trump comments on British politics, but presumably the hypocrites will be happy to receive the endorsement of these people.

The full text of the pro-Corbyn letter and signatories:

"The coming UK election is indeed a landmark and monumental one as signatories to a recent letter attest.  However, we are outraged that Jeremy Corbyn, a life-long committed anti-racist, is being smeared as an anti-Semite by people who should know better.  Anti-Semitism is a problem within society and is present within all political parties and movements, including Labour.  It must be confronted and rooted out at every turn.  No political party or political leader has done more to address this problem than Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party.  In the last two years, the speed of investigations has increased fourfold, staffing committed to dealing with the issue has doubled, legal experts have been drafted, and rules changed to expedite sanctions.  But the prevailing evidence speaks for itself: Labour’s political opponents and much of the media have trivialised and weaponised this issue for ideological ends.

Progressives around the world are looking to this election and to the Labour Party as a beacon of hope in the struggle against emergent far-right nationalism, xenophobia and racism in much of the democratic world.  It has never been more important that voters are made aware of the truth of what the Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn stands for: the eradication of all racism, including antisemitism, wherever it rears its ugly head".

David Adler (Guardian journalist)

Amir Amirani (Iranian film director)

Adjoa Andoh (actress)
Noam Chomsky (American linguist)

Caryl Churchill (playwright)

Robert Cohen (?)

Steve Coogan (actor)

Angela Davis (American Marxist activist and Guardian contributor)

Rob Delaney (American actor)

Robert Del Naja (musician)

Brian Eno (musician)

Des Freedman (media professor and Guardian contributor)

David Graeber (American anarchist activist)

Jason Hickel (anthropologist)

John Keane (artist)
Naomi Klein (Canadian author)

Mike Leigh (film director)

Lowkey (rapper)

Michael Mansfield QC (barrister)

Miriam Margolyes (actress)

Francesca Martinez (comedian)
Raoul Martinez (artist)

Thurston Moore (American musician)

Maxine Peake (actress)

Michael Rosen (children's author)

Mark Ruffalo (American actor)

Mark Rylance (actor)

Alexei Sayle (comedian)

Justin Schlosberg (university lecturer)
Yanis Varoufakis (Greek economist and Guardian contributor)
Roger Waters (musician)
Vivienne Westwood (fashion designer)