By Paul Eisen

I just heard that Jeremy Corbyn is going to stand for the leadership of the British Labour Party.

I hate all politics and I hold the hopelessly compromised and Zionised Labour party in particular contempt. But if Jeremy Corbyn does stand for leader I'm going to join that party so I can give him my vote.

Jeremy has been my MP for pretty much the entire thirty-five years myself and my family have lived here in North Islington so, over the years, I've got to know a little about the man.

One thing I and every single resident of Islington knows is that if you’ve got a problem and you go to his surgery and you need his help, you'll get it - and I'll bet that if Jeremy were to become leader of the Labour party, or indeed of the nation, that won't change one bit.

I’ve also noticed that his support isn't confined to those issues which he personally supports. I've seen Jeremy as busy with a Barnsbury Residents Association concerned about the preservation of their Georgian Square as with a refuge for asylum seekers.

One issue he most certainly does support is that of Palestine solidarity and one evening fifteen years ago I cycled over to see him. I was just beginning to establish Deir Yassin Remembered in the UK and I wanted him to join. I'd hardly begun my feverishly-rehearsed pitch before his cheque book was on the table. From that day on, without fuss or bother, whether DYR was flavour-of-the month or the maggot-at-the-bottom-of-the-food-chain, he attended every single Deir Yassin commemoration.

Since then I’ve seen him here and there. I’ve seen him at solidarity meetings and also at events unconnected with Palestine. One was a meeting of firmly middle-class Islingtonians rabbiting on about protecting the trees in their neighbourhood. But Jeremy Corbyn was there and Jeremy Corbyn was as Jeremy Corbyn always is – fair, approachable, non-judgmental and always committed to the finest ideals of a British Parliamentarian i.e. representing the wishes and feelings of his constituents.

But there’s one final thing I want to tell you about Jeremy Corbyn because it means a lot to me. During the time when I felt so marginalised and isolated, when the movement with which he was associated so despised me, Jeremy always said hello. What’s so great about that? Well, if you ever find yourself in that situation you’ll know exactly what so great about it.

I can hear them now: "Oh sure, Corbyn's a fine man, a man of principle but that's not necessarily what we need in a leader". I disagree. In these terrible times, that's exactly what we need in a leader.

You can read all the standard stuff about Jeremy Corbyn here and click the 'YES' button to show your support. Also, under party rules a candidate needs to be nominated by 35 fellow MPs to appear on the ballot. You can sign a petition here to press Labour MPs to support this fine man.