Greens make ‘Zionism is racism’ party policy as Polanski skips vote

Green Party members have decided to define Zionism as racist in a vote skipped by party leader Zack Polanski.Mr Polanski did not take part in the vote on the “Zionism is racism” motion, having left the party conference after his speech on Friday to campaign in the Holborn and St Pancras by-election.Members still in Brighton backed the motion with 1,022 votes in favour and 813 against.It declares the Greens to be an “anti-Zionist party” and sets into its policy that Zionism, the movement to develop and protect a Jewish state in Israel, will be “treated as any other form of racism”.Green Party leader Zack Polanski is joined by party MPs Hannah Spencer (left) and Sian Berry (right) after delivering his speech during the conference in Brighton (Will Colebourne/PA)PA WireIt also supports the establishment of a “single democratic Palestinian State in all of historic Palestine with Jerusalem as its capital”.A Green Party spokesperson said: “This has been a serious and deeply felt debate within our membership. Our members value the ability to bring forward and decide party policy, and conference has now made its decision.“The Green Party is an anti-racist party and has consistently opposed the illegal occupation of both Palestinian and Syrian land, called for an end to arms sales to the Israeli government and spoken out fearlessly about the devastating situation in Gaza and the West Bank.“Those positions remain central to our approach. So too does our deeply-held commitment to equality, justice and human rights for all, and opposition to racism in all its forms.”The members voted against adding a clause to make clear the motion should not be used to “pressure, proscribe or discipline” party members for their affiliation to synagogues or other Jewish groups that describe themselves as Zionist.Jewish leaders said the failure of the Green Party leadership to oppose the move “shows a staggering indifference to the welfare of British Jews”.The chief executives of the Board of Deputies, Community Security Trust and Jewish Leadership Council wrote a letter to Green Party leaders ahead of the conference airing their concerns and referring back to a warning they issued over the motion earlier this year.(left to right) Sian Berry, Mothin Ali, Rachel Millward and Carla Denyer ahead of leader Zack Polanski’s speech (Andrew Matthews/PA)PA Archive“We also emphasised the implications for the safety and welfare of all British Jews, and our belief that this motion would make the Green Party the first electorally significant UK political party in living memory to adopt what appears to be an overtly antisemitic political platform,” they said.Read MoreThe vote has exposed divisions within the party as four of its five MPs – Ellie Chowns, Sian Berry and ex-leaders Adrian Ramsay and Carla Denyer – came out to publicly reject the motion.Ms Chowns said in a social media post that she was concerned the motion “risks fuelling division and risks undermining the party’s ability to advocate effectively for justice and peace”.The position will become party policy but the Greens do not require all their politicians to back it.Party leader Mr Polanski is running to become an MP in Sir Keir Starmer’s former seat and the Greens had encouraged members to leave Brighton to support his campaign in London.Mr Polanski said he believes that the “displacement and genocide of the Palestinian people” is “clearly racism” in an interview with the BBC earlier this week.But he said he wanted an amendment to call for one Palestinian state in the motion, “because what I want to see is equal rights for Israelis and Palestinians”.