Far-left British party considers measure declaring “Zionism is racism” and endorsing the dismantling of the State of Israel.
By World Israel News Staff
Britain’s Green Party is set to vote Sunday on a motion declaring Zionism a form of racism and committing the party to support replacing the State of Israel with a Palestinian state, opening a sharp internal dispute over Israel, antisemitism and the future of Jewish members who identify as Zionists.
The proposal, scheduled for debate at the party’s annual conference in Brighton, would formally declare the Greens an anti-Zionist party and require Zionism to be treated “as any other form of racism” within party structures.
It also calls for the establishment of “a single democratic Palestinian State in all of historic Palestine with Jerusalem as its capital,” with equal rights and a right of return for Palestinians and their descendants.
If adopted in its current form, the policy would replace support for Israel continuing as a Jewish state with support for a single Palestinian state encompassing the territory currently comprising Israel, Gaza and Judea and Samaria.
The proposal also affirms what it describes as the Palestinian people’s right to “resistance and liberation” and says that struggle may be pursued “by all available means under international law.”
The motion was submitted by British-Palestinian activist Lubna Speitan and attracted 745 co-proposers, placing it at the top of the party membership’s list of motions for debate.
Twelve amendments were submitted ahead of the conference, including proposals intended to protect Jewish members from disciplinary consequences based on their affiliations with Zionist synagogues or community institutions.
The measure has divided senior figures in the party.
Former Green leader Caroline Lucas said she would vote against it, warning that the term Zionism does not have a single agreed meaning.
“I think there is no single definition of Zionism,” Lucas said, adding that the proposal risked being “divisive.”
She also warned that it “could be seen as a sign that Jewish people aren’t welcome in the party.”
Former co-leader and current MP Adrian Ramsay has also said he will oppose the motion.
“I think it’s critical” that Jewish environmentalists who identify as Zionists remain welcome in the party, Ramsay said.
He argued that Israelis and Palestinians should both retain rights to “statehood and to self-determination,” putting him at odds with the motion’s explicit endorsement of one Palestinian state.
Green co-deputy leader Mothin Ali has taken the opposite position and said he would support the proposal.
“It talks about ethnic cleansing, it talks about ethno-nationalism,” Ali said. “Anyone who believes in that, then I think it is a racist ideology.”
Co-deputy leader Rachel Millward has expressed reservations, saying she was uncomfortable with the wording and warning that definitions surrounding Zionism were complicated.
Party leader Zack Polanski, who is Jewish and has publicly described himself as anti-Zionist, has said he supports the principle behind the motion but wants significant changes before backing it.
Polanski has argued that the measure should not expose Jewish members to disciplinary action merely because they belong to synagogues or organizations that identify as Zionist.
“They should not be treated any differently within the Green Party,” he said.
He has also objected to the motion prescribing a single-state outcome, saying the future political arrangement should not be imposed by a British political party.
Polanski is not expected to take part in Sunday’s vote. He is campaigning in London ahead of the Holborn and St Pancras parliamentary by-election scheduled for Thursday.
The controversy has dominated much of the three-day Brighton conference.
Party organizers established a separate room and contact number for Jewish members who felt uncomfortable or threatened during the event, while police kept rival pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian demonstrations apart outside the conference venue.
A Green Party source said members who were concerned had access to “a room if they would like to use it” and could enter through a separate entrance to avoid demonstrations.
Greens for Palestine, the organization that has led the campaign for the proposal, describes itself as “proudly Anti-Zionist” and has called for sanctions, boycotts and embargoes against Israel.
The group has also urged supporters to join the Green Party and participate in internal votes in support of the measure.
Critics inside the party, including Jewish members, have warned that formally classifying Zionism as racism could leave members vulnerable to disciplinary action for views held by a large portion of Britain’s Jewish community.
The Greens considered a substantially similar motion at their spring conference earlier this year, but procedural disputes and technical problems prevented a final vote.
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