Greens adopt policy treating Zionism as racism

[Twiglets1]

The Greens have formally adopted a policy which equates Zionism with racism, a move that will dismay the bulk of the party’s MPs and has alarmed some Jewish members.

In a vote on Sunday at the party’s annual conference in Brighton about whether to back a motion which calls for Zionism, the movement for a Jewish state, to be “treated as any other form of racism”, it passed by 1,022 votes to 813.

The motion, which is now formal policy for the Greens in England and Wales, also calls for a single Palestinian state in place of Israel “with equal rights for all”.

Four of the party’s five MPs have condemned the motion, as did Caroline Lucas, the former leader who was the Greens’ first MP.

Adrian Ramsay, who co-led the Greens before Polanski, said in a statement he would vote against it, as it set out what sort of Palestinian state should exist without taking into account the self-determination of Israelis and Palestinians.

Siân Berry, another of the MPs, made the same point.

Carla Denyer, the Bristol Central MP who was co-leader with Ramsay, said the wording “risks alienating a significant proportion of Jewish people, including those who vehemently disagree with the Israeli government”.

Another Green MP, Ellie Chowns, said the motion “risks fuelling division, and risks undermining the party’s ability to advocate effectively for justice and peace”.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/oct/04/green-party-votes-adopt-policy-zionism-racism

I guess there’s also ‘they look white so it’s not racism’

Along with ‘Palestinians are also Semites so I can’t be antisemitic as I am pro-Palestinian’ (did you see the UN’s Francesca Albanese admit she’d made a balls-up there? https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/433783 )

The Independent definitely doesn’t live up to its name @EdithStourton

More like the Biased who favours one side disproportionately.

Well, he got an education that day, I'm telling you!

Oh I really hate that whole "Arabs are Semites, so I can't be antisemitic" BS

Ireland seems to be the worst for it, followed by Scotland. It seems the more aggrieved the country about ‘colonialism’ (despite the Scots being enthusiastic participators in the empire to the extent they tried to start their own 😐), the more active the antisemitism/‘support for Palestine’.

I have to laugh when they say they ‘know what it’s like for Gazans’. Really? How fucking offensive. The Troubles were horrific but nothing like the last few years in Gaza in any sense.

It’s just an excuse to have a moan and enjoy the drama of the resentment. Of course there are many people all over who support Gaza in a measured way. But for the others it’s a mental illness and their entire identity (looking at you, Kneecap)

And unfortunately the way things are these days the teacher presumably has to tread very carefully when correcting them?

I am just going on my own experience at work as a non teaching member of staff

Weird you’re complaining about Ireland given the subject of the thread. None of Ireland’s political parties are advocating for a single Palestinian state.

I’m in Ireland and have never heard anyone say they ‘know what it’s like for Gazans’ btw.
Who are you quoting, exactly?

I'm up front. I said to him, "there were Jews there, they lived under Roman rule, then they rose up against it" end of conversation.
These children are learning lies, but I won't let them spread them in my lessons.

No those bloody sneaky Jews just tunnelled underneath the beloved mosque and built a temple

I kid you not there are people where I live that I know personally who I could easily convince this explanation is true

Sometimes I just wind people up a bit for my own amusement before informing them of the facts. It does help them to realise just how gullible they have been, which is half the battle when fighting so much propaganda. People don't like being told they are wrong or gullible so you have to show them sometimes. A little mean but often necessary.

I have seen people from Ireland on MN say they have a better understanding/empathy for people living in Gaza because of their own history of living under British rule. Can't remember where but likely on the CITME board.

My pet gate is the argument about Israel being founded on white European settler migration.

If migration and settlement requires an indigenous connection, then the modern non-indigenous Muslim immigration to Britain clearly fails that test.

And if seeking refuge and migrating across borders is a universal right, then Jewish refugees returning to their ancestral homeland had every right to do so. You can't enforce an 'indigenous-only' standard for Israel while supporting open migration everywhere else.

Yes

You would have thought after realising they are wrong or don't know enough fact to speak they would stop speaking about Jews. However they never do.

They just dig in and find a new tactic without thinking if I am right why do I need these tactics.

For someone claiming to be some sort of expert on the conflict to cock up so often is not very helpful to anyone and totally undermines sensible debate.

Yes because of the history behind the word it is something that will get a rise out of me. I have not become numb to that one.

They’ll probably say that it’s all Israel’s fault Hamas is the way it is.
Just like that batshit explanation from the Greens that homophobia in Muslim societies is all due to white colonialism.

Ireland was the on of the first EU countries to call for Palestinian statehood, one of the last countries in the EU to open an Israeli embassy - and that embassy was closed in 2024 after ongoing issues in the community. I was in Dublin over the summer for an international competition and the Israelis I spoke to were harassed on the street, including children.

The Green party here in the UK is definitely the worst of the bunch, but there are deeply problematic issues in Ireland for both Jews and Israelis and have been for generations now.

There are several examples of different political parties in Ireland linking the struggles to the current situation in Palestine - just googled it and there are several examples.

Of course Ireland isn't the worst in the world, but it could be the most difficult place in the EU to visit or live as an Israeli. Not sure how to do that math though, so many other options.

I don't know why their supporters turn a blind eye to that. Why support a nihilistic, misogynist, anti democratic, antisemitic, homophobic Islamist group?

I saw a really good quote recently - I can’t remember it word for word, but it pointed out that both Germany and Japan got a major kicking in WW2, but they don’t feel the need to keep repeatedly attacking other nations as a result.

I’ve definitely seen it too. Also, just look at Kneecap and their supporters.

This, exactly.

Yes, it seems to be a theme. It gets explained as Irish people understanding what it is to live under a coloniser and hence having natural sympathy for Palestinians.

It positions Jews in Israel as ‘colonisers,’ rather than being indigenous or having any other right to be there.

I wonder why v they v also b don't want their children to be taught about same sex relationships in schools? Surely they would want to be ' decolonised' by being taught about homosexuality?
They are very stupid. In the US in places where hardline Muslims have gone in with The Greens the first thing they have done is target Pride/ teaching about homosexuality in schools etc. Pretty sure the British didn't throw Gay people off buildings.

Yes, people have expressed sympathy and empathy for those reasons. That’s not the same as pp’s ‘quotation’ and subsequent remarks which implied Irish people were saying they know what it’s like to live in and endure similar conditions to those in Gaza currently. Because of the Troubles according to her, though people almost always mean an older history.

I’m not complaining about Ireland, I’m complaining about the hardcore antisemitism coming from Ireland. Surely, given the context of the thread, that much is obvious?

https://www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2026/0810/1587210-ireland-palestine-care-sympathy-conflict-links-survey-international/

’We as Irish know what it is like to be taken over and dominated by a bigger nation," wrote one respondent. "It’s the same kind of colonisation Ireland experienced in the 17th century," wrote another. A third: "The Irish, because of their history, share common cause with the oppressed."

Yes, they target Pride and object to rainbow flags.