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

This is the danger of reducing complicated issues to slogans. Those "Zionism is Racism" banners and stickers were everywhere, so once you start chanting that, you believe it. It's a dangerous path.

So am I. Got no time for anyone who continues supporting the Green party after this.

And "From the River to the Sea" ... yes Palestine will be free of lots of Israelis if the State of Israel gets abolished.

In the Hamas charter - to destroy Israel.

I still can't believe that huge swathes of people marched through British cities, chanting that out loud.

There was an interesting comment under the Times piece on this. The Islamic Party was denied permission to form an official political party by the Electoral Commission, presumably because it was openly discriminatory then very soon afterwards lots of radical Muslims joined The Greens. The Greens have stupidly enabled a coup of their party.
There are a lot of moderate Muslims in this country. The Greens seem to think they can court their vote by pandering to the fundamentals of their religion. Particularly the ever silent ( except when talking about her plumbing or slandering her colleagues) Hannah Spencer.

I’m no expert in any of this but I’m reading Corrie Ten Boom’s book The Hiding place now and it is making for very uncomfortable reading. So much so I can’t put it in words

Was she the one who campaigned wearing a keffiyeh outside a mosque?
I remember when we had the local elections, the first thing the Green candidate said was "sanction Israel". You'd think a local Green candidate would be concerned about public transport, recycling etc. apparently not.

No one else picked up on this comment. The Cable Street anniversary has been on my mind all weekend. I learned about it at Jewish school in the 80s: the Jewish community resisting Mosley’s antisemitism, with others standing alongside them. That solidarity meant something to me growing up.

Seeing its commemoration on the same day that the Greens voted to treat Zionism as racism - and rejected an explicit safeguard for members belonging to Zionist synagogues - has been painful. These are separate events, but together they leave me wondering whether the solidarity being celebrated still extends to Jews like me.

My connection to Israel is part of my Jewish life. It does not mean supporting everything its government does. I feel increasingly unwelcome, and I don’t know whether people outside our community understand how personal this is.

On a positive note, the Green party have shot themselves in the foot when it comes to potentially forming a coalition with Labour at the next GE. They have become so extreme as to be politically toxic. Labour would have to form a coalition with the Lib Dems instead and possibly a raving Looney. What a gift to right wing parties.

I also read today that the atmosphere at the Green conference was so saturated with hatred of Jews that conference organisers had to arrange a safe room for Jewish members attending it. That's absolutely disgraceful coming from a party that unironically considers itself to be "anti racist".

I am so sorry that you feel this way. Please believe me that many of us outside your community do understand and support you. We can never have your experience, but we support you. As I said upthread, my Jewish neighbours, in their 80s are now too scared to go to their synagogue, and that makes me angry.
It's shocking that anyone could co-opt the Cable St anniversary in that way. We know what the bravery and determination of those Jewish people was, and the difference they made. We can't allow this to continue..

Is this where the antisemites went after Starmer kicked them out of the Labour Party?
If so, those people were working on a longer term plan; it is very scary.

I have occasionally - but proudly - voted Green since the 1990s, in various elections. As per many others, any remaining support that I have for this iteration of the “Greens” has vanished.

As a British Jew, I do feel increasingly unwelcome. It matters to see people outside our community taking that seriously.

For me, this weekend hasn’t happened in isolation. There’s the Green vote and rejection of the synagogue safeguard, the Cable Street anniversary, and now the planned London student march on 7 October itself. Taken together, they feel overwhelming. I’m struggling with the contrast between celebrating solidarity and the growing feeling that it no longer extends to Jews like me.

My synagogue, my family’s connection to Israel and my Jewish identity are parts of my ordinary life. None of that means supporting everything the Israeli government does. But increasingly I feel that I’m expected to distance myself from those connections to be accepted.

What?! That's outrageous. Can you imagine being Jewish in that room though? Horrendous.

Yes, I think so

Sorry I missed that comment and did not understand the significance of the Cable Street anniversary.

I feel so sorry for any Jewish person saying they feel unwelcome in the UK. You are welcome by any normal person with moderate beliefs! I can understand it must feel personal but cannot of course presume to know exactly how it feels being non Jewish myself. Again, I'm just so sorry about what is happening to UK society, please believe that you do have lots of support here even though we are quieter than those with extreme views pushing an anti Jewish agenda.

The Greens have lost their way under Polanski in so many ways. And he was notably absent from this debate.

It is surprising that they failed to learn the lessons of Corbyn's Labour Party.

For those of us on the left who already thought that they had lost the plot, this is kind of helpful because I think it will lose them a lot of support and we don't really want them dividing the left in any case.

However, I'm sure that there will be a lot of people feeling hurt and confused as a result of this vote.

The Greens were great under Caroline Lucy's. Now, as JKR rightly pointed out, they are looking increasingly like "nutters". And antisemitic nutters too.

Imagine the outrage if it happened at a Conservative party conference or Reform one - especially if you swap Jewish members with Muslim ones. But it's true.

From Jewish News: On the eve of a controversial vote to equate Zionism with racism, rival pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian demonstrators were kept apart by police outside the Brighton conference centre.

Inside, party members revealed that a room had been set aside exclusively for Jewish members who felt threatened.

“We have been given a ‘safe room’ for Jewish members to use in an emergency,” one member told the Mail on Sunday.

“It was used on the first day of the conference to host a meeting between a rabbi and some Jewish members. It’s a deeply upsetting situation, but that’s the reality.”

A Green Party source confirmed: “We have a phone number for a small number of people if they are worried, and a room if they would like to use it. They come in through a different entrance to avoid any protests at the front.”

www.jewishnews.co.uk/green-party-forced-to-open-safe-room-to-protect-jewish-members-at-brighton-conference/

There is something terribly cynical about offering a "safe space" for Jewish members in case they feel threatened without actually doing anything to tackle the source of the potential threat. Who on earth would think that was ok?

All that plus I was actually born in Israel so am Israeli.

They are having a march on 7/10 at my work (university). I complained and complained and the best my workplace HR team could come up with is that I should just WFH that day. No acknowledgment that this is incredibly inappropriate and triggering. I just stopped coming to work on Fridays altogether as the drums and river sea chants were kind of hard to ignore every week. And I don’t go into town on most Saturdays as that’s where they all are.

I cannot believe the greens did this. This week of all weeks. I can’t wrap my head around this at all.

Caroline Lucas sensibly tried to stop this motion being passed, addressing members before the vote to say, "I urge you not to support the over-simplification at the heart of this motion - a refusal to accept complexities which is leading to so many Jewish members feeling scared and unwelcome in our party."

Of course they didn't listen to her. She represents the "old" Green party not the horror that it has transformed into.

Caroline Lucas is a bit behind. She hasn’t yet grasped that the majority of members at the conference want Jewish members to feel scared and unwelcome in the party.

These members aren’t confused by a complex issue. They are antisemites.

Yes exactly.

Dressed up like a kind thing to do when actually it's just WTF?? You are acknowledging that your Jewish members may need a safe space - at your own party conference!!!

Good for her (and apologies for the autocorrect typo in my earlier post which mangled her name!).

It's a shame that they didn't listen. Perhaps they might have done if their current leader had shown more leadership.

He should have been there supporting Caroline with that message.

Yes I know he was campaigning in north London but come on ... this was a very important vote.

He's so politically stupid apart from everything else.

They're having a march - to celebrate 7/10? What?! To celebrate the worst attack on Jewe since the Holocaust? That's absolutely vile. This has gone beyond concern for Palestinians or conflict in Gaza. That's just offensive.