Celebrity international backing for academic expelled, then readmitted to Labour PartyDemand for full apology and inquiry
Statement delivered to Corbyn and Party Secretary McNicol
In an extraordinary development, an international array of talent has rallied to the support of a retired professor expelled from the British Labour Party. They join the growing ranks of Party members and trade unionists demanding an apology to Professor Moshé Machover for alleging that an article of his was antisemitic; and for an inquiry into the processes that resulted in his expulsion. As a result of UK protests Professor Machover’s expulsion has already been rescinded.
Professor Machover is an eminent mathematical logician, a noted Israeli dissident and advocate for the rights of Palestinians, based in London since 1968.
LEAD SIGNATORIES INCLUDE 3 FIELDS MEDALISTS . . .
(AKA “THE NOBEL FOR MATHS”)
Sir Michael Atiyah OM FRS (1966) Former President, Royal Society & Master of Trinity College, Cambridge
David Mumford (1974) Professor Emeritus, Mathematics, Brown University
Stephen Smale (Fields Medallist, 1966) Professor Emeritus (Retired), Mathematics, Univ. of California
Other notable mathematicians, philosophers and scientists include Ahmed Abbes, Noam Chomsky, Chandler Davis, Freeman Dyson, Ivar Ekeland, David Epstein FRS, Emmanuel Farjoun, Catherine Goldstein, Mary Gray, Michael Harris, David Klein, Neal Koblitz, Malcolm Levitt FRS, Colette Moeglin, Richard Miller, Joseph Oesterlé, Hilary Rose, Steven Rose, Tim Shallice FRS and more!
. . . AMONG DOZENS OF INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS LEADERS, LABOUR PARTY ACTIVISTS & ISRAELI ACADEMICS SUCH AS:
Tariq Ali (writer), Sir Geoffrey Bindman QC (University College London), Stephen Cragg QC (Barrister, London), John Dugard (former U.N. Special Rapporteur), Brian Eno (musician), Richard Falk (Professor Emeritus, International Law, Princeton), Ronnie Kasrils (ex-Minister, South Africa), Ken Loach(film-maker), Michael Mansfield QC (President of the Haldane Society), Ilan Pappé (Professor of History, Exeter), Shlomo Sand (Professor Emeritus, History, Tel Aviv University), Raji Sourani (Director, Palestinian Centre for Human Rights) and many more!
This unprecedented support and demand for redress indicates serious misjudgement by the Labour Party’s much criticised disciplinary apparatus. On behalf of the petition’s organizers, Professor Jonathan Rosenhead said, “Moshé Machover is a splendid and courageous anti-racist campaigner over decades. The crass attempt to brand him an antisemite, part of an unprincipled campaign to suppress criticism of Israel, has clearly backfired in a big way. The Labour Party needs a root-and-branch reform of how its Disputes Panel and Compliance Unit have been operating.”