Lindsey German pays tribute to a principled socialist, an anti-Zionist Jew who campaigned for Palestinians, and who combined an understanding of theory with lifelong practice

John Rose, who died on 30 October after a long illness, was a fine and spirited revolutionary and a remarkable comrade and friend. He met and joined the International Socialists (forerunners of the SWP) as a young student at the London School of Economics in 1967, and this was where he learnt his politics. He and his contemporaries there – a number of whom he stayed close friends with for his entire life – were won to ideas about the need to overthrow the system and to oppose imperialist wars (the Vietnam War was then at its height).

The IS founder, Tony Cliff, who was a Palestinian Jew, spent long hours arguing with the new students about the nature of Israel and the need to support the Palestinians and oppose Zionism. John was from a Jewish family and this was a time when there was much sympathy for Israel which was regarded as progressive by many on the left. But he was eventually convinced by Cliff’s argument (as many of us were on a range of questions).

Throughout his life, he campaigned and organised in support of the Palestinians. He wrote several books and pamphlets which have helped educate generations of socialists, including Myths of Zionism and Israel: the Hijack State. He spoke at thousands of meetings, was until his illness an enthusiastic attender at Palestine demos, and attended the Cairo conferences organised by the left in difficult and sometimes dangerous circumstances. He was warmly welcomed at these as an anti-Zionist Jew, with many Egyptians saying that they did not realise such a phenomenon existed.

He also took a keen interest in Middle East politics, including in Iran, the home country of his partner Elaheh, and helped organise Action Iran to oppose George Bush’s intervention there.

These examples illustrate the importance of our analysis, which John expresses well, about the Middle East and the nature of Zionism. In recent years, anti-Zionist Jews, including John, have also had to combat the attempt to smear those criticising Zionism as anti-Semitic.

It would be a mistake, however, to assume that this was John’s only or even main contribution to IS/SWP politics. He wrote for party publications and spoke at meetings extensively, worked as a full-timer for several years, including a spell editing Socialist Worker alongside Joanna Rollo, who sadly also died earlier this year. He had a very broad theoretical and historical understanding. He was also always engaged and active in politics at a number of levels. 

I first met John in 1972, when I was recruited to IS by the partner of one of his friends. In those years we socialised a lot, with long discussions in pubs and curry houses on Friday nights. We stayed friends ever since, later enjoying evenings at his home eating Iranian food prepared by Elaheh. I remember being on holiday with him in Portugal just after the revolution in 1974, when we were enthused at the prospect of dictatorship being overthrown, not just there, but in Spain and Greece as well. 

It was only many years after first meeting him that I found out that he and several of his IS friends had also been London Recruits. These were extremely brave people who were recruited to go to apartheid South Africa to help the resistance struggle there. This was extremely dangerous work and had of course to remain secret. It is now widely acknowledged, with a documentary film recounting the story. By coincidence, there was a special showing of the film on Wednesday at the Hackney Picturehouse, close to the hospital where John died hours before. On hearing the news, the showing was then dedicated to his memory.

John was not always the easiest person. He constantly wanted to know about things and was the most questioning person I think I have met. He would never accept an explanation let alone a line without asking, why? You would have to be able to answer not just in a few words but with a proper thought-out response.

We didn’t always agree on tactics, or on political questions. John would quite often be brusque and polemical in these discussions. But he was also overwhelmingly honest, principled, and comradely in his approach. He was also a very kind and loving person, and his friendship and loyalty were unwavering. In the years after Cliff’s death, we often debated what we thought he would have said or done about a particular issue.

John would very often end a sometimes sharp discussion with a smile and ‘to be continued comrade’. How sad that can no longer be the case. But it is already clear since his death that his legacy will be a lasting one, and that his work touched many, many people. He has a new book about revolutions, based on his PhD thesis, coming out soon. 

Our best tribute to him is to continue the fight for Palestine solidarity, for socialism and for a better world. 

Condolences to his beloved partner Elaheh, to their families and loved ones, to his friends and comrades.