‘Zionism is racism’ motion passed by Green party at annual conference
- On Sunday, Green Party members voted 1,022 to 813 at the Brighton annual conference to formally define Zionism as a form of racism, making the Greens the first mainstream UK party to adopt such a policy.
- British-Palestinian activist Lubna Speitan proposed the motion, which calls for replacing Israel with a single democratic Palestinian state and defines Zionism as an ethnonationalist ideology affirming Palestinians' right to resistance.
- Senior figures including former leader Caroline Lucas and MP Adrian Ramsay opposed the measure, warning it could be 'divisive.' Green Party leader Zack Polanski skipped the vote while campaigning for the Holborn and St Pancras by-election.
- Israel's government condemned the decision, with Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar barring Polanski from entering the country. Jewish community leaders warned the policy creates an antisemitic platform and threatens British Jews' welfare.
- While supporters argue the move 'shifts the paradigm' on Palestinian liberation, critics fear the decision isolates the party from mainstream politics. The Greens face intense scrutiny as the policy takes effect.
185 Articles
185 Articles
Israel bars UK Green leader after vote to define Zionism as racism
UK Jewish groups say the motion stokes hatred after a string of attacks on their community, while the government and other parties have condemned a policy that even at least three out of five Green MPs opposed.
The Netanyahu government blacklists the leader (Jewish but pro-Pal) Zack Polanski: "It's anti-Semitism." The party splits. Revolt of associations, outrage from other parties
With divisions within the environmental party, the motion discussed in the context of support for Palestine was adopted, while the Greens are already destabilized by the left-wing turn of the Labour Party.
Israel's Foreign Ministry has banned Zack Polanski from entering the country on the grounds that the motion is a "clearly anti-Semitic text" that transcends "the limits of legitimate political debate" and supposes "a stain on British history" Read
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