Annabelle Sreberny
JVL is greatly saddened to hear of the death of Annabelle Sreberny on 30 December. Annabelle had a long history of activity as a Jewish Socialist and was a strong supporter of Palestinian rights. She joined JVL almost as soon as it was established in 2017
Annabelle was always an active member. She made a particular individual contribution to our work as a key player in devising and organising the JVL/BSST annual liberation Seders. She helped compile our Haggadahs each year, securing a wide range of people from Britain, Palestine, Israel and elsewhere to speak, sing and play at the Seders. Annabelle’s engagement with the Seders arose not only from her JVL membership but even more from her involvement as a firm supporter and Trustee of the British-Shalom-Salam Trust, for which the Seders raised funds.
Her enthusiasm, eye for detail and good humour were essential to their success.
Annabelle was recorded speaking passionately in Parliament Square in March 2018 when JVL challenged the distortions and exaggerations about antisemitism in the Labour Party and the lies about Jeremy Corbyn being broadcast by the Jewish establishment organisations and their right-wing allies. Annabelle submitted her own testimony to the EHRC about the falsity of the claims against the Labour Party and her own MP, Jeremy Corbyn.
Anabelle, as the daughter of refugee parents (her mother coming on the Kindertransport), knew much about European antisemitism and the need to welcome refugees.
A distinguished academic, Annabelle was Professor Emerita of Global Media and Communication at SOAS and past president of the International Association for Media and Communication Research. Her research covered many areas but she was a particular expert on Iranian Cinema and the author of Blogistan : The Internet and Politics in Iran. She also co-edited Gender, Politics and Communication among a number of important and widely cited books she wrote or edited.
In 1976, she – a British woman – moved to Iran with her Iranian husband Ali. She writes: “An inveterate snapper, I took a lot of photographs which provide an interesting record of a unique period – 1978-1979 – when a population mobilised into revolution.” You can view her wonderful collection of images in My Revolutionary Year, Iran 1978-9.
In November 2022 she participated in the Director’s Lecture Series to discuss the on-going protests in Iran following the death of Mahsa Amini and question the future of the country. You can view her speaking Women, Life, Freedom: Achieving political change in Iran
Annabelle wished us all “Happy Hanukka, Shab-e Yalda and Christmas and looking forward to a more just and green 2023”.
We will miss Annabelle’s great sense, compassion and good humour and send our condolences to her family and many friends.
Sad to hear this .
Reading about Annabelle, and hearing her interview clip, I am very sorry to hear of her death. Rest in Peace. Annabelle sounds like a brilliant woman, a genuine socialist internationalist. My condolences to her family and friends.
A wonderful comrade, creative and passionate. Very sad news.
So very sorry to hear this, a great activist and woman!
I knew Annabelle’s dynamic mother Margot, a survivor of Kristallnacht and later a Finsbury Park housing and environmental activist — as well as an unforgettable presence on early Holocaust Memorial Day events. An outstanding memory is of Margot and child Kosovan refugee planting a memorial peace tree in Enfield.
Wonderful woman.
Goodbye Annabelle
A wonderful, inspiring woman. RIP.
My condolences to the family and friends of Annabelle Sreberny.
I did know who Annabelle Sreberny was until I got this email, but I will be finding out.
Amazing woman. A role model. So sorry to hear this news. Condolences to her family and friends.
May she rest in peace…..
I am writing on behalf of the British Shalom-Salaam Trust, and also for myself.
Annabelle became involved in BSST when she joined with me to organise the now annual Liberation Zoom Seders which we mount jointly with JVL. Later she joined the Board of BSST as a trustee. We are going to miss her so much. She was passionate, enthusiastic and full of ideas. She was also warm, tolerant, irreverent, non-censorious. . . everything you want from a colleague, especially dealing with a cause so full of tension, pain and conflict as Israel/Palestine/Golan. I loved working with her on the Seder nights, breaking boundaries, coming up with the unexpected, identifying ‘readers’ and content from here in Britain, the US and Israel/Palestine/Golan too, as well as with Mike Cushman from JVL (whose technical back-up and financial support have made the Seders possible).
For me she became a new(ish) friend, someone fun and creative I bonded with instantly, both politically and as a person, but was also getting to know as a sister not merely an ‘activist’. I will grieve for the mutual exploration that we will no longer undertake, the joint projects that will not happen, the journeys no longer possible, the unfinished work, the unmet dreams, the showing off over Zoom of her grandchildren to me, the discovering of eachother. And the loss of someone who had so much more living to do.
If you would like to donate to BSST in memory of Annabelle, please get in touch with me at bsst@bsst.org.uk
Her life was a gift.
May her name be a blessing.
So sad that such a qualified, experienced and balanced voice will no longer be heard. A great loss to JVL. Condolences to all the Sreberny family.
RIP Annabelle it is sad to hear this.
What a loss to the world.
Passionate, honest and eloquent. Another great loss.