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
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

Media inquiries can be directed at sftp.petitions@gmail.com