In Memory of Steve Cohen

Steve worked for about 30 years as an immigration-law barrister in Manchester, set up the Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit, participated in many Anti-Deportation Campaigns. He wrote books, manifestos, pamphlets and emails about anti-semitism and socialism, about immigration, borders and the welfare state, in past and present.

Steve was a lawyer, a writer, and a political organiser. A Socialist and a non-religious Jew. A very funny and inspiring man full of integrity with a clear, analytical and personally grounded political stance. Probably a bit of a workaholic, full of enthusiasm that was difficult to withstand. A man who brought immigration history from below and past political struggles right into today's realities, showing that "learning from history" is not necessarily a dusty, empty phrase.

He came from a generation of socialists that was used to organise in fixed structures, with commitees, formal meetings and clearly defined roles, through manifestoes, programs, political parties and position papers. Within this tradition, Steve was fascinated by the interventionist, creative, direct action oriented political forms which were re-vived in the framework of the globally networked social movements of the last decade. Thus he was one of the bridges between political generations - although the younger generation's informal, networked, horizontal, non-representative and seemingly chaotic ways of organising must have seemed weird to him at times.

In 2003, Steve was a driving force in writing a political manifesto against immigration controls titled "No One Is Illegal". This slogan, taken from the writings of Elie Wiesel, was also the main statement of the transnational european noborder network which formed in the late 1990s. This network developed into one of the main grassroots assemblies of radical migration related politics on a European level, using "new" networked formats of political organising visible in border camps, campaigns against migration control, and europe-wide action days. The "No One Is Illegal Manifesto" articulated the same uncompromising position against any form of immigration control. It helped to assemble No Borders - hubs in the UK and connect them with existing campaigns against immigration controls.

For the last fifteen years, Steve suffered from rheumatoid arthritis. This illness twists and turns the body. It is very painful and affects the functions of the body - hands, eyes, back. Nevertheless, Steve continued writing political texts and organising emails "with one eye and one finger", as he put it.

In 1984, Steve wrote a text titled "That's funny, you don't look antisemitic". A careful account of the history of anti-semitism on the left in the UK, it also presents a differentiated analysis of Zionism and anti-Zionism. This text, re-published on the net in 2005, represents a valuable intervention in the current debate within the UK left about Palestine and the politics of the state of Israel.

Two positions seem to be impossible to reconcile: One accuses certain discourses amongst anti-Zionist supporters of the struggle of the Palestians of Anti-semitism. The other accuses this criticism of Zionism.
Steve had "one foot in the camp of the anti-Zionists and yet he [was] still mortified by left-antisemitism" (Engage Online). His position shows one way to oppose the Israeli occupation of Palestine without falling into anti-semitic ways of thinking and feeling.

In an orbituary on Workers Liberty, he is described as "a tower of strength and source of inspiration to all around him". Even though I only met him very few times, I am sadly missing him as well. I am grateful for having crossed his path while he was alive. Now his body has gone to medical research according to his wish, and the folder with his numerous organising mails on my email client is closed. Nevertheless, Steve's approach to live, politics, illness and humour will continue to enrich my own. Thanks, Steve.

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From Engage and Workers Liberty:

There will be a small memorial service in Manchester town hall at 5.30pm on Thursday 12 March, and a larger, suitably festive memorial event some time in July, probably in the weekend after what would have been his birthday (July 16th).

If you want to send a personal message of condolence to his daughter Rachel, his son Tom (and Tom’s wife Cecilia and their children Fintan and Ellen), to Sheila, Harriet and all those who loved Steve, please send it to Harriet: harriet@obrien.net

If you want to make a donation in his memory, please make the cheque out to Arthritis Research and send it to GMIAU (1 Delaunays Road, Crumpsall Green, Manchester M8 4QS).

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Short Bibliography

Steve Cohen: “I would hate myself in the morning". Online publication: Engage Blog. Uploaded May 29,2006. Accessed 9.3.2006.

Steve Cohen: That's Funny You Don't Look Anti-Semitic. An anti-racist analysis of left anti-semitism. Edited and produced by Libby Lawson and Erica Bunnan, Beyond the Pale Collective, 1984. Online: Engage Online, 2005. Accessed 9.3.2009.

Steve Cohen: No One is Illegal: Asylum and Immigration Control, Past and Present. Trentham Books: Stoke on Trent, 2003.

No One Is Illegal Group: No One Is Illegal Manifesto, 2003. Online, accessed 9.3.2009.

Steve Cohen: Immigration Controls, the Family and the Welfare State. Jessica Kingsley Publishers: London, 2001.

Steve Cohen: Resource pack and teaching module on immigration controls and refugee law in Lithuania. Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit [and] Manchester Metropolitan University: Manchester, 1999.

Steve Cohen: They make you sick. Essays on immigration controls and health. Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit, Department of Applied Community Studies, Manchester Metropolitan University: Manchester, 1998.

Steve Cohen: A hard act to follow. The Immigration Act 1988. South Manchester Law Centre: Manchester, 1989.

Steve Cohen: From the Jews to the Tamils. Britain's mistreatment of refugees. South Manchester Law Centre: Manchester, 1988.

Steve Cohen: The thin end of the white wedge. The new Nationality Laws - second class citizenship and the welfare state. Manchester Law Centre: Manchester, 1981.

Steve Cohen: You don't have to be a lawyer to help someone being threatened with immediate arrest detention or expulsion under the Immigration Act. Manchester Law Centre: Manchester, 1981.

Steve's collection of of memorabilia from about over 70 anti-deportation and immigration campaigns fought in Greater Manchester between 1975 and 1996 can be found in the Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Race Relations Resource Centre, University of Manchester. For online details about the collection see the Archives Hub.