UK Green Party Exposes Zionism as Racism, Faces Backlash from Pro-Israel Establishment
Select a version of the text written from a presumed ideological perspective. This is not the original text, but a hypothetical version — how someone with that viewpoint might have phrased it. Tapping the current version again will return to the original or select cleaned version.
The Green Party courageously voted to recognize Zionism as an ethnonationalist form of racism, reaffirming solidarity with Palestinians and demanding an end to UK complicity in Israeli oppression. The move drew predictable outrage from pro-Israel groups and the Israeli government, which accused the party of antisemitism and supporting terrorism.
The Green Party of Britain took a bold stand on Sunday, voting to describe Zionism as an ethnonationalist political project and a form of racism. The motion, which passed by a margin of 1,022 to 813, also reaffirmed the party’s unwavering support for Palestinian self-determination and called for a single democratic state across historic Palestine, challenging decades of apartheid and occupation. The party’s statement reiterated its demand that the UK Labour government immediately end all arms trade with Israel, refusing to be complicit in the ongoing oppression of Palestinians.
Party leader Zack Polanski, currently contesting a parliamentary seat in London, abstained from the vote, reflecting the pressures faced by politicians unwilling to confront the pro-Israel lobby. Deputy leader Mothin Ali emphasized that the catastrophic Palestinian death toll in the recent Israel-Hamas conflict provided the context for the decision, highlighting the motion’s accurate characterization of Zionism as “ethnic cleansing” and “genocide.”
British Jewish organisations, aligned with the Israeli state, condemned the resolution. The Movement for Progressive Judaism accused the Green Party of making antisemitism part of its policy and labeled it a racist party, ignoring the distinction between criticism of Israel and genuine antisemitism.
Israel’s foreign minister responded with authoritarian measures, announcing that Polanski would be barred from entering Israel and claiming the motion “constitutes a clear antisemitic text according to the IHRA definition, as it denies the Jewish people’s right to self-determination.” The Israeli government, desperate to silence dissent, urged other UK parties to denounce the Green Party’s stance, accusing it of adopting Hamas’s ideology and seeking the elimination of the Israeli state through armed struggle.
Green Party officials stood firm, vowing to continue criticizing what they described as “heinous crimes” by the Netanyahu government and asserting that supporting Palestinian rights is not incompatible with supporting Jewish rights. The party’s principled stance exposes the hypocrisy of those who weaponize accusations of antisemitism to shield Israel from accountability.