An open letter to the Leader of the Labour Party from concerned Labour Party members, Momentum activists and socialists. To add your name, please email speakoutonsyria@gmail.com
Dear Jeremy,
We write as members of the Labour Party and Momentum, as socialist activists, or as other supporters of your leadership of the Labour Party. We agree wholeheartedly with your opposition to militarism and nuclear weapons, and your call for an end to British arms exports to countries such as Saudi Arabia. Yet we are concerned by your silence – thus far – on the ongoing slaughter of civilians by Russian and Assad-regime forces in Syria.
We share your scepticism about kneejerk military responses to the situation in Syria, such as the bombing campaign against ISIS proposed by David Cameron last autumn. We are not asking you to back Western interventions of this kind, but simply to say clearly and unequivocally that the actions of Assad and Russia in Syria are barbaric war crimes, and that you will seek to end them, and to hold their perpetrators to account.
We applaud your efforts, over decades, to end the crimes of brutal regimes supported by Western powers. But we do not believe that this exhausts the duties of anti-imperialists, socialists and peace activists in Western countries. The fact that Assad is supported not by the USA or Britain, but by Russia and Iran, does not make his crimes any less horrific, or the political future he represents for the people of Syria any less dismal. Nor does it mean that Western political leaders are powerless in acting to oppose these crimes.
We know only too well that there are those in the anti-war movement who will denounce any move critical of Russia, Iran, or Assad as tantamount to support for Western imperialist intervention. We also know that there are those on the right of British politics who will claim any such move as a concession to their policy of militaristic grandstanding. The debate on Syria has been polarised between these two positions – scrupulous “non-intervention” in the face of massive carnage enabled by Russian intervention, versus support for bombing campaigns as part of a Western “war on terror”. We have all been asked to take up a position in these terms. But the terms are false.
We appreciate your concern not to lend support to right-wing calls for fruitless bombing campaigns. But in the face of the horrors being perpetrated across Syria, with impunity, and above all by Russian and Assad-regime forces, we believe socialists and anti-war activists cannot simply look on in silence. We ask that you condemn, clearly and specifically, the actions of Assad and Russia in Syria, which have caused the overwhelming majority of civilian deaths and which present the biggest obstacle to any workable solution to the Syrian crisis.
We also urge you to lend your wholehearted support to practical measures to support civilians and pressure the regime to end its attacks, such as airdrops of aid to besieged civilians by British military forces. Guaranteeing delivery of humanitarian aid to civilians is not only a way to save the lives of hundreds of thousands of people at risk of disease and starvation. It is also a non-violent and humanitarian way to pressure the regime into a negotiated political solution to the conflict, by undermining a key part of its strategy: the “kneel or starve” campaigns deployed against opposition areas since 2013. “Food not bombs” should be the rallying cry, not “Hands off Syria”, which only gives the Assad regime and Russia carte blanche to continue with their slaughter.
Failure to act on this issue now threatens to undermine practically and politically much of the work done over many years by the anti-war movement. The legacy of yourself and the anti-war movement over Syria must not be one of silence and inaction in the face of such momentous atrocities.
Yours fraternally,
Peter Hill, Oxford University UCU Hon. Secretary (personal capacity), Oxford and District Labour Party and Momentum
Mark Boothroyd, Unite Health National Industrial Sector Committee (personal capacity), Camberwell and Peckham CLP
James Nowlan, Labour Party and Momentum member
Luke Cooper, academic and campaigner
Andy Forse, Oxford Labour Party, Momentum National Committee
Roland Rance, Jews Against Zionism, founder member of Palestine Solidarity Campaign
Mike Rowley, Labour City Councillor for Barton, Sandhills and North-East Headington (Oxford)
Adam Ramsay, journalist
Chris Fox, Wimbledon CLP, Thee Faction member
Ben Towse, UCL Labour Campaigns Officer, Hornsey & Wood Green CLP
Sheila Ramsay, Chair, Chester CLP
Christopher Roche, Bath UCU Vice President (personal capacity), Bath Trades Union Council President (personal capacity), Bristol West CLP
Genevieve Murray-Dinsmore, Women’s Officer for Croydon North CLP
Becky Boumelha, Labour Campaign Against Prevent
Ashley Inglis, member of the Labour Party and Stop the War Coalition
Mark Price, Labour Party member, Momentum member (Welsh Labour Grassroots) and Community Councillor for Croesyceiliog
Chris Strafford, Communications Officer, University of Manchester UNISON
William R Rolfe, Labour and Momentum member, Branch Secretary PCS Revenue and Customs South East Valuation Branch
Catriona Bass
Carol Cody, UCU Committee Sec. City of Liverpool College, UCU NW Women’s Equality Rep.
Glyn Harries, Hackney South CLP member, Hackney Momentum Officer (personal capacity), Joint Sec. Hackney Trades Union Council (personal capacity)
Simon Hewitt, Leeds Central CLP, Momentum regional committee (personal capacity), LRC national committee (personal capacity), UCU
David Osler, chair, Shacklewell Branch Hackney North & Stoke Newington CLP, Labour Representation Committee national committee, Labour Briefing editorial board (all personal capacity)
Sacha Ismail, on behalf of the Alliance for Workers’ Liberty
Dan La Botz, Co-Editor of New Politics
Roz Kaveney, novelist and poet
Rosie Warren, editor of Salvage, Camden Momentum member
Jamie Allinson
Bill MacKeith, member of Labour Party, Momentum, National Union of Journalists
Liz Peretz, Labour Party and Momentum member, Oxford
Lisa Dempster, Unison Knowsley branch and National disabled members committee, Momentum member
Patrick Murphy, NUT Executive member for West Yorkshire
Gerard Colgan, Leeds West CLP, Leeds Momentum Steering Committee (personal capacity), BAFWU
Cllr Jonathan Timbers, Hebden Royd Town Council, Calder Valley CLP, Member of Independent Labour Publications (ILP)
Barry Buitekant, Labour councillor, Haggerston Ward, Hackney
Lynne Segal, Birkbeck College, University of London
Stephen Cowden, Chair, Coventry University UCU Branch, Warwick & Leamington Labour Party member
Merlin Gable, Monmouth CLP
Andy Wilson, Hackney CLP
Steven Ellis, Streatham CLP
Alison Lord, Walthamstow CLP
Tony Aldis, Labour Party and Momentum member
Kris Stewart, Socialist activist
Neil Rogall, member of rs21 and UCU
Brian Parkin, member of rs21 and UCU, University of Leeds
Tom Cutterham, Labour Party, Momentum and UCU member, University of Birmingham
Miriyam Aouragh, University of Westminster, rs21, Oxford Solidarity for Syria
Bethan Jones, Labour Party and Momentum member
Max Leak, Labour and Momentum member
Gary Budgen, Walthamstow CLP
Tom Travers, Labour Party member
Sam Doherty, Manchester Momentum
Kat Burdon-Manley, rs21 member, Unison
Emily McDonagh, Unite
Ed McNally
Barnaby Raine
Christopher Ford, Walthamstow Constituency Labour Party
Edd Mustill, Liverpool Riverside CLP and Momentum member
Tom Harris, Lewisham West and Penge CLP, Lewisham Young Labour
Christian Hill, Socialist Activist
Jaskiran Kaur Chohan, Labour Party and Momentum Member
Lynton North, Torridge & West Devon CLP / Momentum
Hannah Fox, Labour Party member
Omar Raii, Hornsey & Wood Green CLP
Tom Dale, Labour Party member, Hackney South & Shoreditch
Pete Radcliff, Broxtowe Momentum
Nathan Roberts, Lambeth Momentum
Sue Shaw, Labour and Momentum member, Henley CLP
Susan Pashkoff
Daniel Nichols, Romford CLP
Nick Hostettler, Streatham CLP, Lambeth Momentum
Phil Vellender, Hackney Labour Party, UCU HE member, Senior Lecturer
Tom Davies, Walthamstow CLP, NUJ member and LRC member
Les Hearn, Holborn & St Pancras CLP, NUT member
Gabriel Pogrund
David Moynihan, Hackney Labour Party
Pete Firmin, Hampstead & Kilburn CLP and Momentum member
Jane Connor, Walthamstow West Labour Party
Sheen Gleeson, Hackney
Vivien Green
Mags Gainsborough
Tony Benson
Stephen Wood, Hayes & Harlington CLP, Hillingdon LG Unison
Nicholas Sebley, Labour Party member and Corbyn voter
Hannah Davies, Labour supporter
Mark Coulter, Hull, East Yorkshire
Damian Walenta
Andrew Spink, Labour Party member, West Yorkshire
Andy Morgan, Worcester
Javaad Alipoor, Theatre maker and activist
Joey Ayoub, member of the Labour Party, SOAS Syrian Society and SOAS Palestine Society, MENA editor at Global Voices and blogger at Hummus For Thought
Lily Marchant, Labour Party Member
Bob Wood, Leeds Central CLP
Dan Jeffery, Lambeth Labour, Momentum, UNISON
Iti Teder
Janice Chalmers
Natalie Sedacca, human rights lawyer
Valerie Leyland, Broxtowe CLP
Catriona Bass
Diana Neslen
Robert Tollemache
Juliette Harkin, Labour member and Doctoral Researcher, University of East Anglia
Ian Brownlie, Labour Party member & socialist
Mary Holmes, Labour Party member, Twickenham
Geoff Ryan, Brynaman, Carmarthenshire
Fred Leplat, Socialist Resistance
Joe Baxter, Labour Party member
Lee Berry, Labour Party, Momentum & Unite member, Corbyn voter & activist
Ian Land, Hastings and Rye Labour CLP
Charles Brown, Labour Party, UCU
Steve Eason, rs21, NUJ
Adam Di Chiara, rs21, NUJ
Mary Dinan
John Riches, Labour Party and Momentum member, Brighton
Sam Richardson, Labour Party member, Lewisham West and Penge
David Paterson, Loughborough Labour Party member
Aditya Sarkar, Labour Party and Momentum member; Warwick University UCU member
Sarah Martin, Jeremy Corbyn and Labour supporter
Alison Down, Writer, Activist, Labour Party member
Laura Schwartz, Warwick university UCU, Leamington and Warwick Labour Party
Andrew Scott-Bolton, Labour Party member & Corbyn supporter
Russell Inglis, Labour Party member
Vanda Buxton, Labour Member, Bury South CLP
Beverley Buxton, Labour Party member and Momentum member
Keith Price
Gregory Schwartz, member of the Labour Party
Jo Morales, writer and activist
Alan F. Fogelquist
Jim Denham, member of Selly Oak, Birmingham CLP and Unite
Dr. Steffan Wyn-Jones, academic and member of the Labour Party
Robert Williams, Labour Party member, Aberystwyth
Rime Hadri
Graham Askey, Labour Party member
Sarah Khatun-Miah
Chris Pepler
Sadiq Miah
Shafla Khatun
Liza Begum
Anthony Pall
Aryaan Miah
Niki Dean, member of the Labour Party
Richard Kuper, Camden CLP and Momentum member
Francis McDonagh, Hackney North and Stoke Newington CLP
Janine Booth, Hackney Momentum
Winmarie Greenland, NUT and Barnet Momentum
John Milne, Labour Party Member
Alex MacDonald, journalist
Dominique Villaret
Margaret Green, human rights activist
Mattia Indi Gerin
Tanner Akif
Tamara Al-Om, PhD student, Centre for Syrian Studies, University of St Andrews
Hana El-Sbahi
Duncan Chapel
Rima Majed
Zack Murrell-Dowson, Bristol North-West CLP
Maha Rahwanji
Joseph Daher, Swiss/Syrian socialist activist and blogger, Lausanne
David Waddilove
Liam J Liburd, Sheffield Hallam CLP and Momentum Sheffield
Shane Draper, Labour Party member, Humanist
Kaley Clark
Nick Duggan, Hallam CLP
Helen Glazier, Sheffield Hallam CLP
Sorcha Thomson, Middle Eastern Studies student, University of Oxford
Joseph M. Cachia, Malta
Keith Dobie, GMB and Labour Party member
Anna Pollert
Zoe Salanitro, Selly Oak CLP (Birmingham)
Angela Hull, Nuneaton
Cor Baas
Hugh Tollyfield, Fulwood Branch Labour Party
Hannah Roques, Edinburgh Central CLP
Fergal Kinney, Islington North
Andy Lockhart, Sheffield Central CLP and Sheffield Momentum
Dina Halawani
Vaughan Melzer, Hornsey Labour Party & Corbyn voter
Pascale de Rotrou
Laura Tennant, Labour Party member
Sheffield Heeley Labour and Unison member (both in personal capacity)
Matthew Sturgess
Alan Story, socialist
Miranda Pennell, Labour party member
Máire Davies (Dr.), Cardiff West CLP
Liam Murphy, Socialist, Labour Member
Miles Curtis Watson, Labour member, Unite (personal capacity)
Belinda Beasley, Labour Party member, Sheffield
Bernard Sufrin, Independent Socialist, fundraiser for Syrian Refugee Students
Kate Tunstall, UCU HE member, Oxford
Brian Slocock
Dave Parks, Socialist, Exeter
Ed Armston, Hackney North and Stoke Newington
Kit Habianic, author Until Our Blood is Dry (Parthian Books)
Roger Welch, Portsmouth CLP
Frances Pilling, socialist, Portsmouth
Andrew Coates, Ipswich Labour Party and Unite activist
Alan Thomas, Labour Party member, West Midlands
Geoff Wilson, Labour Party member, Momentum member, North Staffordshire
Stephanie David, Bexleyheath & Crayford CLP, Labour Representation Committee (both personal capacity)
Naomi Lopez, Labour Party member & Peace Activist
Gavin Edwards, Walthamstow Labour and Momentum
Mike Pearn, Labour Party and Momentum member
Steve Thompson, Labour Party member
Dot Walker, Maldon CLP
Jayne Egerton, Lewisham Deptford CLP
Mandy Merck, University and College Union
Jill Hughes, Labour Party member
Daniel Randall, expelled member, Islington South and Finsbury CLP, RMT London Transport Regional Council Young Members’ Officer
Max Farrar, socialist, Leeds, UK
David Morgan, Consultant Psychotherapist
Shakuntala Banaji, Associate Professor, UCU and Labour Party member
Margaret Phelan
Isabella Ramsay, Photographer and Art Psychotherapist
Katharine Halls, Labour Party member
Alan Theasby, Middlesbrough CLP
John Scholes, Labour Party member, Highlands of Scotland
Ben Hall, Momentum member, Haywards Heath town council Labour candidate
Rachel McCarthy
Diana Neslen, Ilford South CLP
Sam Feeney, Huntingdon CLP
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Jeremy Corbyn: Speak Out On Syria! 