{"id":792034,"date":"2026-10-04T21:20:17","date_gmt":"2026-10-04T21:20:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/792034\/"},"modified":"2026-10-04T21:20:17","modified_gmt":"2026-10-04T21:20:17","slug":"uk-greens-adopt-zionism-is-racism-motion-become-first-anti-zionist-party","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/792034\/","title":{"rendered":"UK Greens adopt \u2018Zionism is racism\u2019 motion, become first anti-Zionist party"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"article-paragraph-section article-body-paragraph\">The Green Party has become the first mainstream party in Europe to declare itself openly anti-Zionist after voting in the controversial &#8220;Zionism is Racism&#8221; motion at its party conference in Brighton, UK, on Sunday, passing the motion 1,022 votes to 813.<\/p>\n<p>Amendment III &#8211; which would have protected Jewish people from being expelled if they belong to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.jpost.com\/diaspora\/antisemitism\/article-909338\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">synagogues<\/a> that define themselves as Zionist &#8211; also failed to pass, with 684 votes in support and 1,026 against.<\/p>\n<p>Israel&#8217;s Foreign Ministry issued a statement on social media in response to the resolution on Sunday, claiming that the Green Party was &#8220;legitimising armed struggle against Israel, and calling for the establishment of a Palestinian state \u201cfrom the river to the sea\u201d &#8211; meaning the destruction of the State of Israel.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The resolution constitutes a clear antisemitic text according to the IHRA definition,&#8221; the Foreign Ministry added, &#8220;as it denies the Jewish people\u2019s right to self-determination.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The Green Party previously <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jpost.com\/diaspora\/antisemitism\/article-887840\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">planned to vote on the motion at its Spring Conference<\/a> in March; however, multiple no-confidence votes were submitted, creating delays and meaning it was never heard or debated.<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Co-Deputy Leaders of the Green Party Mothin Ali and Rachel Millward attend a Green Party conference in Brighton, Britain, October 2, 2026.\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"632\" height=\"492\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/740418.jpeg\"\/>Co-Deputy Leaders of the Green Party Mothin Ali and Rachel Millward attend a Green Party conference in Brighton, Britain, October 2, 2026. (credit: REUTERS\/CARLOS JASSO)<\/p>\n<p class=\"article-paragraph-section article-body-paragraph\">The motion recognizes Zionism as Israel\u2019s foundational ideology that has created and maintains an apartheid regime between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article-paragraph-section article-body-paragraph\">It further affirms the right to self-determination and liberation of the Palestinian people and supports the establishment of a \u201csingle democratic Palestinian state in all of historic Palestine, with Jerusalem as its capital.\u201d This would effectively eradicate the State of Israel.<\/p>\n<p>On Saturday, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jpost.com\/diaspora\/antisemitism\/article-898423\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Zack Polanski<\/a> told the conference, &#8220;We stand with one voice now as we say: &#8216;Drop the charges. End the genocide. Deproscribe Palestine Action.'&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>However, according to The Telegraph, Polanski did not vote on the motion, as he was on the campaign trail in north London ahead of Thursday&#8217;s Holborn and St Pancras by-election.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article-paragraph-section article-body-paragraph\">Polanski, who is Jewish, has nevertheless failed to condemn the motion.<\/p>\n<p>Jewish Greens remain split on motion\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"article-paragraph-section article-body-paragraph\">The Jewish Greens &#8211; a Jewish group within the party &#8211; remain split on the Zionism is Racism motion. Ahead of the conference, the group answered a survey about key conference issues.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article-paragraph-section article-body-paragraph\">On a 0\u201310 scale measuring whether Jewish Greens should collectively oppose the motion, the average was 5.1, indicating an almost exact split. Consequently, Jewish Greens said it will not take an official position on the motion.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article-paragraph-section article-body-paragraph\">Most Jewish Greens (81%) identify as anti-Zionist or non-Zionist. Of the Zionist respondents, 80% of Zionist respondents oppose the Zionism as Racism motion. Interestingly, however, the anti-Zionist Greens were divided on the motion too.<\/p>\n<p>A majority of 70% strongly support de-proscribing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jpost.com\/diaspora\/antisemitism\/article-910228\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Palestine Action<\/a>, and 64% strongly support Palestinians&#8217; right to &#8220;resist apartheid, occupation and genocide through all available means within international law.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"article-paragraph-section article-body-paragraph\">Exactly half support criminal prosecution of UK citizens who fight with the Israeli military.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;Safe-rooms&#8217; designated for Jews during the conference<\/p>\n<p>Another shocking revelation came when Jewish members of the party told the Mail on Sunday that a designated &#8216;safe-room&#8217; has been set aside during the conference for Jewish members who feel they are in danger.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have been given a \u2018safe room\u2019 for Jewish members to use in an emergency,\u201d a member told the Mail on Sunday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article-paragraph-section article-body-paragraph\">\u201cIt was used on the first day of the conference to host a meeting between a rabbi and some Jewish members. It\u2019s a deeply upsetting situation, but that\u2019s the reality.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rabbi Charley Baginsky and Rabbi Josh Levy, Co-Leads of the Movement for Progressive Judaism, told The Jerusalem Post Sunday that the motion is &#8220;antisemitic in its formulation and intention.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"article-paragraph-section article-body-paragraph\">&#8220;By adopting it, the Green Party has made antisemitism party policy and become a racist party,&#8221; the two said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article-paragraph-section article-body-paragraph\">&#8220;Jewish self-determination is a right. Declaring it racist is an attack on Jews. The Green Party has chosen to brand Jews who hold this belief as racists and make their equal participation in the party conditional on renouncing it.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"article-paragraph-section article-body-paragraph\">Baginsky and Levy said Jews should not have to justify their connections to Israel to be entitled to equal treatment, nor should they have to disown their communities to participate in British politics.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article-paragraph-section article-body-paragraph\">&#8220;Support for this motion from some Jewish members does not excuse discrimination against other Jews.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"article-paragraph-section article-body-paragraph\">&#8220;We stand with Jewish members and our communities. We will challenge this policy and hold the Green Party\u2019s leadership accountable for the discrimination it has endorsed.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Yaakov Hagoel, the Chairman of the World Zionist Organization, told the Post that the Green Party of England and Wales&#8217;s decision to adopt a resolution defining Zionism as racism is a &#8220;shameful, scandalous resolution tainted with severe antisemitism.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"article-paragraph-section article-body-paragraph\">&#8220;Zionism is the national movement of the Jewish people and expresses its historical, legal, and moral right to self-determination in its homeland. The attempt to portray it as racist is a recycling of modern blood libels and dark UN resolutions (such as Resolution 3379), which have long since been repealed and thrown into the dustbin of history,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article-paragraph-section article-body-paragraph\">Israel&#8217;s Foreign Ministry said that, with the vote, the Green Party in Britain has &#8220;ceased to act as a political party and became a body that gives legitimacy to terrorism.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"article-paragraph-section article-body-paragraph\">&#8220;The Greens have adopted not only the green of Hamas, but also its ideology: the elimination of the State of Israel through armed struggle.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"article-paragraph-section article-body-paragraph\">The shocking resolution adopted today legitimizes armed struggle, calls for a Palestinian state \u201cfrom the river to the sea\u201d &#8211; meaning the destruction of the State of Israel &#8211; and labels as \u201cracist\u201d the aspiration of the Jewish people for self-determination.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article-paragraph-section article-body-paragraph\">&#8220;Every political party in Britain, first and foremost the governing Labour Party, must unequivocally reject this twisted resolution,&#8221; the ministry added.<\/p>\n<p>Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Green Party has become the first mainstream party in Europe to declare itself openly anti-Zionist after voting&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":792035,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[3854,63775,591,59,57,58,50,5651,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-792034","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-antisemitism","tag-antizionism","tag-europe","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-news","tag-palestine-action","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/792034","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=792034"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/792034\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/792035"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=792034"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=792034"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=792034"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}