Green Party members to vote on declaring Zionism a form of racism at conference

The Green Party's annual conference kicked off in the coastal town of Brighton, following the Labour Party's recent conference. Members are poised to vote on a contentious motion that would officially recognize Zionism as a form of racism. If approved, the Greens would become the first major British political party to make such a declaration.

Zack Polanski, the Green Party leader, is a vocal advocate for the motion, emphasizing the need to confront the ideology that normalizes the suffering of Palestinians. The motion, drafted by British-Palestinian activist Lubna Speitan, calls for a single democratic Palestinian state with equal rights for all ethnic and religious groups.

However, the motion faces significant opposition within the party. Two former Green leaders, Caroline Lucas and Adrian Ramsay, have denounced the motion as divisive, arguing that it risks alienating Jewish members. Polanski, himself Jewish, has called for amendments to the motion to explicitly safeguard Jewish people and to refrain from dictating the future settlement of Palestine and Israel.

The motion defines Zionism as a political ideology that aims to create and maintain an ethnonationalist Jewish state in historic Palestine, effectively excluding and/or dominating the non-Jewish population. It acknowledges that not all Jews are Zionists and not all Zionists are Jews.

A booklet outlining the motion's stance advocates for a single democratic state in the entire territory of Palestine, encompassing Muslims, Jews, Christians, and those of no faith. The booklet questions the acceptability of similar ethnonationalist states for other ethnicities, raising concerns about the universality of the motion's demands.

Members are expected to vote on amendments to the motion during the conference, with the final decision to be made on Sunday.