The Green Party of England and Wales passed a motion at its Brighton conference on Sunday. It says Zionism will be "treated as any other form of racism." The motion also declares the Greens an anti-Zionist party and backs a single democratic Palestinian state in all of historic Palestine. Members rejected an amendment that would have stopped the party from disciplining members over ties to Jewish community institutions. Party leader Zack Polanski did not vote. He is Jewish and says he is anti-Zionist. He left on Friday after his speech to campaign in the Holborn and St Pancras by-election. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar said on Sunday evening that Polanski cannot enter Israel. Jewish Greens is the party's Jewish group. It surveyed its members and found them "very divided." It took no position.

1. Zionism Is Racism, and a Party Against Racism Should Say So (Lubna Speitan, Ashok Kumar)

The motion's backers say an anti-racist party can't make an exception for Zionism.

A party against racism can't make an exception for Zionism. Lubna Speitan proposed the motion. She is a British-Palestinian activist. She says its backers oppose racist systems of oppression and all forms of racism. Ashok Kumar, a Green member, said before the vote, "Some things aren't nuanced. Slavery, not nuanced. Zionism, not nuanced."

Backers say the motion targets an ideology. 5Pillars reports the motion says opposing Zionism should not mean hostility toward Jewish people. One Jewish Green told the New Statesman, "I do fundamentally believe that Zionism is racism." In the Jewish Greens survey, 81% of respondents said they are anti-Zionist or non-Zionist.

Speitan says the party should take on the establishment. She said, "The whole point of this motion is for us to challenge and confront the establishment."

2. But This Is Antisemitic and Labels Most Jews Racist (Board of Deputies, Israel's Government, Bridget Phillipson)

Jewish community groups and Israel call the motion antisemitic, and Labour says it labels most Jews as racists.

Labour says the motion calls most Jews racist. Labour Party chair Bridget Phillipson said the motion would condemn "the vast majority of British Jews and Jews around the world as racist for supporting Israel's right to exist."

Israel says the motion denies Jews self-determination. Israel's Foreign Ministry said the motion is antisemitic under the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition. It said the motion "denies the Jewish people's right to self-determination."

Jewish groups say the party refused to protect its Jewish members. The Board of Deputies of British Jews, the Jewish Leadership Council and the Community Security Trust wrote to Green leaders before the vote. They said the motion would make the Greens "the first electorally significant UK political party in living memory to adopt what appears to be an overtly antisemitic political platform." Elise Benjamin is a founding member of Jewish Greens. She said "over 1,000 members just voted not to protect Jews."

Progressive Jewish leaders say the wording itself is antisemitic. The Movement for Progressive Judaism called the motion "antisemitic in its formulation."

3. Even If You Back Palestinians, This Is the Wrong Move (Ellie Chowns, Caroline Lucas)

Four Green MPs and a former leader criticized or opposed the motion, and the party's leaders say they back Palestinians and Jews alike.

Opponents say the motion divides the party. Green MP Ellie Chowns urged members to vote against it. She said it "risks fuelling division and risks undermining the party's ability to advocate effectively for justice and peace." Former Green leader Caroline Lucas also opposed it. Three more MPs criticized it too: Siân Berry, Adrian Ramsay and Carla Denyer.

Joe Todd says words alone won't help Palestinians. Joe Todd is a Green member and writer. He says the motion will do little in practice and won't persuade voters. He would rather the party press Labour in concrete ways.

The leaders say the party backs both groups. After the vote, the party's five MPs, Polanski and the deputy leaders put out a joint statement. It did not name the motion. It said, "We know there is no conflict between supporting the rights of Palestinians and the rights of Jewish people."

Where This Lands

Speitan and the motion's backers say Zionism is racism and the Greens have to say so. The Board of Deputies and Israel's government call the motion antisemitic, and Labour's Phillipson says it labels most Jews racist. Four of the party's five MPs criticized the motion, and former leader Caroline Lucas opposed it. Polanski signed the leaders' joint statement but did not vote.

Sources