Massive Attack, Thurston Moore, Vivienne Westwood, and more have signed an open letter voicing their support for Jeremy Corbyn ahead of the UK’s general election.
The letter comes just days after a number of public figures, including Joanna Lumley, author William Boyd, and Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, shared their own letter saying they would not vote for Labour because of its “association with antisemitism”.
“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,” the new letter says. “Antisemitism 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.”
It continues: “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.”
The letter ends with a list of the signatories, which also includes Noam Chomsky, Naomi Klein, Brian Eno, Angela Davis, and more.
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Read the full letter here.