Protesters descend on town hall as flagship London council passes ‘Zionism is not racism’ motion

Hundreds of protesters gathered outside Westminster town hall as a flagship London council passed a motion declaring that “Zionism is not racism”. Westminster’s motion stated: “Support for the Jewish people’s right to self-determination is not racist”. Town hall chief executive, Stuart Love, has been asked to review the local authority’s “equality, diversity and community cohesion training and policies” to ensure that they “do not treat Jewish residents’ support for Jewish self-determination as a form of racism”. Protesters outside the Westminster council meeting where a motion declaring 'Zionism is not racism' was passedLDRSDozens of demonstrators waving Palestinian flags banged drums and chanted “long live the resistance” outside the full council meeting on Wednesday night. Counter-protesters held a banner branding the Green Party “racist” and held Israeli flags on the steps on the town hall. Tory councillor Hannah Galley told the meeting: “To have the support of both parties in this chamber is very important for what is only our second joint motion since 2018. “For the last two years I have had the privilege of representing Abbey Road, a ward with a large and vibrant Jewish community...But over these two years I have witnessed something deeply disturbing here in Westminster and further afield: a growing climate of intolerance, intimidation, and hatred directed towards Jewish people.”She added: “At its heart, Zionism is the belief in the right of Jewish people to self-determination in their ancestral homeland. “For many Jewish people, Zionism is deeply intertwined with their religious, cultural and historical identity. “For some it is spiritual: an enduring connection to a land that has occupied a central place in Jewish life for millennia. For some, they see Israel as an escape route because centuries of history has proven that they cannot be completely secure when left to the mercy of others. Read More“And yet we are now being told that this belief is inherently racist. It is a warped argument that is uniquely applied to Israel – I can think of no other nation whose right to self-determination is singled out as an illegitimate or racist endeavour.”The Green Party’s motion, which was passed at the party’s conference in October, described Zionism as an ideology supporting “an ethnonationalist Jewish state in historic Palestine to the exclusion and/or domination of the non-Jewish population”. It states that “Zionism is racism”.Some senior Green members, including the party’s former co-leader Adrian Ramsay and its first MP Caroline Lucas, also condemned the motion. Mr Ramsay called on local parties to renounce the policy, putting him at odds with current leader Zack Polanski. Westminster council’s motion resolves to “affirm that Zionism is not racism, and reject the position, adopted by the Green Party at its October 2026 conference”.