Burnham calls on Polanski to reverse Green Party's Zionism motion

Andy Burnham has urged Green Party leader Zack Polanski to overturn a party resolution that labels Zionism as a form of racism. The resolution was approved during the party's conference in Brighton, with Burnham describing it as "completely wrong" and showing "terrible judgment." The motion defines Zionism as an ideology supporting an ethnonationalist Jewish state and backs a single democratic Palestinian state in historic Palestine.

In response, Polanski has stated he would not exclude anyone from the Green Party based on their religious or communal background. Since the motion was passed, Polanski has declined media interviews and has not responded to questions from the BBC about the issue. The vote on the Zionism motion has caused controversy within the party, with four out of five Green MPs opposing it, its co-deputy leaders split on the issue, the Green deputy leader in Wales resigning, and condemnation from other Green members and European counterparts.

Polanski did not vote on the resolution, having left the Brighton conference early to campaign in the Holborn and St Pancras by-election, where he is a candidate. Before the vote, he had expressed a desire to modify the motion to exclude any disciplinary action against Jewish members attending Zionist synagogues. The Green Party operates under an internal democracy model, with official party policy determined by members, though these positions may not appear in their general election manifestos.

Burnham's intervention on Thursday emphasized that the resolution effectively rules out a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine, calling for its reversal and rejection as Green Party policy.