Britain’s Green Party votes to class Zionism as a form of racism

On Sunday, Britain's Green Party decided to categorize Zionism as a form of racism, sparking controversy among British Jews and the Israeli government. The party, which garnered 6% of the vote in the 2024 national elections, defined Zionism as an "ethnonationalist political project" and reiterated its demand for the British government to cease all arms trade with Israel.

The motion, which received a majority vote of 1,022 to 813, also supported the right to self-determination and the establishment of a unified democratic state across historic Palestine.

The Israeli government responded negatively to the vote, labeling the Green Party as a "body that gives legitimacy to terrorism." The party's leader, Zack Polanski, who is running for a parliamentary seat, did not participate in the vote. The decision, however, was met with strong condemnation from British Jewish groups, who accused the Green Party of endorsing antisemitism and becoming a racist party.

Mothin Ali, the Green Party's deputy leader, defended the motion, stating that the Palestinian death toll in the conflict with Hamas, following a 2023 attack on an Israeli music festival, was a crucial factor in their decision. Ali asserted that the motion's definition of Zionism encompassed concepts such as ethnic cleansing and genocide.

Israel, which rejects allegations of ethnic cleansing and genocide, called for other British political parties to condemn the Green Party's stance, asserting that the party had adopted the ideology of Hamas, aiming to eliminate the State of Israel through armed struggle. Polanski and other prominent figures within the Green Party affirmed their commitment to exposing the alleged crimes of the Netanyahu government and emphasized that the rights of Palestinians and Jewish individuals were not mutually exclusive.