The Wrong Sort of Jew

Let them speak: the life histories and present experiences of non-Zionist, Labour Party Jews.

The emotional testimony, with its echoes of Kafka and The Crucible, has been edited into a powerful theatre script by John Graham Davies and Farhana Sheikh. The production (directed by Hilary Westlake) will be a dramatic illustration of the issues subsequently thrown up by Al Jazeera’s The Labour Files, and by the Labour Party’s own Forde Report. More than that, it dramatises the histories that have shaped Jewish socialists and fuelled their commitments.

Despite blanket opposition or fearful silence from theatre venues regarding this important theatre project, the team behind it are determined that the voices of these non-Zionist Jews are heard. A partial staging of the play is now planned for early spring, with a view to a bigger production to follow – but money is needed.

The highly experienced writers, director and professional actors are giving their time in solidarity, but we need to cover the costs of editing the filmed material, and of hiring the spring venue so that audiences can see it.

Since starting the project, two of the interviewees, both elderly Jewish socialists with long histories of anti-fascist, anti-apartheid and pro-Palestine activity behind them, have died. They died trying to clear their names.

We now know the extent of deceit used to undermine the movement around Jeremy Corbyn. The Wrong Sort of Jew shows how that purge worked, and the extent of the human cost for those targeted as being the wrong sort of Jew.

Please give if you can, and circulate.