A Science for the People Petition.
You can add your signature here
On October 30, a few hours before the scheduled publication of the petition below, Moshé Machover received notice from the Labour Party’s Head of Disputes indicating that his expulsion had been rescinded. This petition’s organizers credit the change of heart to unrest within Labour where Machover’s defenders have been organizing for such a reversal. But this is only a partial victory. As argued by those Labour Party activists and in the petition below, complete justice will require an inquiry into all the circumstances of the expulsion. To that, we might also add that an apology is in order from the Party officials who entertained such cynical and unfounded allegations.
And yet, even in their rescindment, those responsible have not shown remorse, evading queries about the allegations of antisemitism all while continuing to threaten Machover, “cautioning” him against associations deemed incompatible with Labour membership. Unable to prove any violation nor withstand the internal unrest, Machover’s accusers want to have their McCarthyism and eat it too.
The statement below is just as accurate and urgent after this victory as it was when the dozens of prominent signatories below first endorsed it. Add your name to join the growing, international chorus in defense of political freedom: for Moshé and for all of us.
A Science for the People Petition:
DEFEND MOSHÉ MACHOVER: INVESTIGATE HIS EXPULSION FROM THE LABOUR PARTY
Lead Signatories listed below as of 30 October 2017; Affiliations listed for identification purposes.
We, the undersigned mathematicians, scientists, academic philosophers and defenders of free speech and human rights support the call by UK Labour Party members for the establishment of an immediate inquiry to review all the circumstances of Moshé Machover’s expulsion from the Party; and also to investigate the operation of those office holders and units responsible for this and other recent disciplinary actions, including the moral, political and legal implications of their procedures and decisions.
As has been detailed in his own defense and in an open letter signed by more than 1250 Labour Party members, Machover–an internationally renowned Israeli mathematical logician based in the UK since 1968–faces a range of politically-motivated and inconsistent accusations. The anonymity of Machover’s original accusers and the sloppy response of Labour’s disciplinary bureaucrats raises doubts about the motivations of all involved. It reads like a smear of advocates of Palestinian human rights as anti-semites in an attempt to relegate criticism of Israel to the margins of UK politics.
Under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership, the Labour Party has become a beacon of hope to millions around the world animated by the principles of solidarity, freedom, peace and equality. A membership purge which targets a lifelong champion of precisely these principles diminishes that light. The spirit and content of the charges against Machover evoke the shameful tradition of American McCarthyism. Such tactics will inevitably rebound on the integrity and legitimacy of any who tolerate or employ them.
As detailed in the historical documentary about Matzpen, the Israeli socialist organization he helped found, Machover is a longtime target of political intimidation and censorship. Machover deserves our solidarity both for his persistent courage and for the political freedoms he has long stood for: his own, Palestinians’ and those of academics around the world. Moshé Machover embodies both the proud Jewish tradition of internationalism and the rigorous intellectual integrity to be expected from a scholar of his stature.
We stand with Moshé Machover!
Signed,
Ahmed Abbes Directeur de recherche au CNRS, Mathematician, Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques, France
Gadi Algazi Professor of History, Tel Aviv
Tariq Ali Writer
Merav Amir School of Natural and Built Environment, Queen’s University Belfast, Northern Ireland
Dr. Shmuel Amir Israel Agricultural Research Institute, Beit Dagan, Tel Aviv
Frank Barat Belgium
Tamar Berger Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, Technion, Tel Aviv
Sir Geoffrey Bindman QC Visiting professor of law, University College London
Hagit Borer Professor of Linguistics, Queen Mary University of London
Bill Bowring Professor of Law, Birkbeck College, University of London; Barrister of Gray’s Inn
Noam Chomsky Institute Professor (Emeritus), MIT; Laureate Professor, University of Arizona
Zaki Choudhary Oakville, Canada
Alona Cohen Activist, Yafo-Tel Aviv
Isaac Cohen Professor Emeritus San Jose State University, San Jose, California, USA
Stephen Cragg QC Barrister, London
Chandler Davis Professor of Mathematics, University of Toronto
Dror Dayan Lecturer, Bournemouth University, UK, and Berlin
Conor Dempsey Science for the People, Neuroscience, Columbia University, New York
Laurence Dreyfus FBA Professor Emeritus of Music, University of Oxford, Emeritus Fellow, Magdalen College
John Dugard Professor Emeritus, University of the Witwatersrand & Leiden
Freeman Dyson Professor, Institute of Advanced Study, Princeton
Avishai Ehrlich Professor, Academic College, Tel Aviv-Jaffa
Aviva Ein-gil Haaretz, Tel Aviv-Jaffa
Ehud Ein-gil Matzpen, Tel Aviv-Jaffa
Ivar Ekeland Emeritus Professor, Mathematics; Former President, Paris-Dauphine University; Former President, Scientific Council, Ecole Normale Supérieure
Sai Englert SOAS, London
Brian Eno Musician
Richard Falk Professor of International Law, Emeritus, Princeton University
Emmanuel Farjoun Professor of Mathematics, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Pierre Galand Former Senator, Belgium
Phil Gasper Emeritus Professor, Notre Dame de Namur University
Mary Gray Statistician, American University
Adam Hanieh Reader in Development Studies, SOAS, University of London
Shaun Harkin People Before Profit Ireland, Derry City
Michael Harris Professor of Mathematics, Columbia University & Université Paris-Diderot
Ronnie Kasrils South Africa
Neal Koblitz Professor of Mathematics, University of Washington
Allan Kolski Horwitz South African Jews for Free Palestine
Gabi Lachman Programmer, Tel Aviv
Gerardo Leibner PhD Historian, Tel Aviv University
Chava Lerman Retired Teacher, Tel Aviv-Jaffa
David Letwin Jews for Palestinian Right of Return
Michael Letwin Former President, Association of Legal Aid Attorneys/UAW 2325; Labor for Palestine
Malcolm Levitt FRS Professor of Physical Chemistry, University of Southampton
Ken Loach Film-maker
Daniel Machover Solicitor, co-founder of Lawyers for Palestinian Human Rights
Michael Mansfield QC President of the Haldane Society
Jen Marlowe Donkeysaddle Projects, Brooklyn, NY
Nur Masalha Professor, SOAS, University of London
Anat Matar Senior Lecturer, Tel Aviv University
Isabelle McCarthy Labour Party, Leicester
Marcelo Menahem Weksler Academy, Israel, Tel Aviv
Esti Micenmacher Who Profits, Tel Aviv
Colette Moeglin Directrice de Recherche, Institut de Mathématiques de Jussieu-Paris Rive Gauche, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
David Mumford Professor Emeritus, Brown University
Ilan Pappé History Professor, University of Exeter
Dalia Pilavsky Matzpen, Tel Aviv-Jaffa
Jonathan Pollak Tel Aviv
Yisrael Puterman Anarchists Against The Wall, Tel Aviv
Bruce Robbins Professor of English & Comparative Literature, Columbia University, New York
Hilary Rose Feminist Sociologist of Science and Emerita Professor at Bradford University
Steven Rose Emeritus Professor of Neuroscience, The Open University
Jonathan Rosenhead Emeritus Professor of Operational Research, London School of Economics
Shlomo Sand Professor Emeritus Tel Aviv University
Michal Sapir Musician, Writer and Translator, Tel Aviv
Lynne Segal Professor, Birkbeck, University of London
Tim Shallice FRS Emeritus Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London
Adam Shatz Contributing Editor, London Review of Books
Ahmed Shawki International Socialist Organization, Chicago
Steve Smale Mathematics, University of California
Kobi Snitz Weizmann Institute of Science, Tel Aviv
Ahdaf Soueif Author, Cairo
Eran Torbiner Documentary film director, Tel Aviv
Tzvia Thier Jewish Voice for Peace, New Jersey
Asa Winstanley Journalist, The Electronic Intifada, London
Yuval Yonay Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Haifa
– You can add your signature here
– Media inquiries can be directed at mailto:sftp.petitions@gmail.com
– This petition will be addressed to:
- Iain McNicol, General Secretary, Labour Party
- John McDonnell, Labour MP, Hayes and Harlington, Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer
- Jeremy Corbyn MP, Leader of Labour Party