Green Party MP calls for safeguards against extremist influence after Zionism motion
Green Party Westminster leader Ellie Chowns said the party must prevent capture by extremists after a conference motion labeling Zionism as racism was adopted by a small minority of members.
Westminster leader Ellie Chowns told the BBC that the Green Party must ensure it is not vulnerable to capture by extremists or racists following the adoption of a motion that described Zionism as a form of racism. The motion, put forward by activists and approved at the party’s conference, was passed by 1,022 votes to 813, representing roughly 0.4% of the party’s 230,000 members.
"I don't know if there are extremists and racists in my party. But I want to make sure that my party isn't vulnerable to capture by extremists and racists," Chowns said on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
Chowns described Zionism as a contested concept and said the policy does not reflect the views of the majority of Green members or the wider public. She added that the motion distracts from the party’s work on Palestinian rights and highlights structural issues in the party’s policy-making process.
Former party leader Caroline Lucas warned that the Greens were not protected from entryism, where individuals join to shift party policy, and called for the party to be a welcoming place for Jewish people. She praised current leader Zack Polanski’s contributions but noted the party’s constitution predates its recent growth.
The Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Jewish Leadership Council criticised the motion, stating that Zionism is an anti-racist movement providing a refuge for Jews.
Polanski, who is Jewish, said he would not have supported the original wording but agreed with the part of the motion linking displacement of Palestinians to racist ideology. A member of the Greens for Palestine group, Ashok Kumar, defended the vote as a stance on Palestinian liberation.
After Polanski’s recent by-election loss, Vivien Lichtenstein, leader of the Jewish Greens, called for his resignation, describing his avoidance of a debate on the motion as a mistake.