UK Green Party Debates Labeling Zionism as Racism

The UK's Green Party is convening its autumn conference in Brighton, a gathering that has become a focal point for controversy due to its members' increasingly extreme and anti-Israel statements. A key item on the agenda this year is a motion to declare "Zionism is racism," a phrase directly echoing a 1975 UN General Assembly resolution spearheaded by the Arab League and the Soviet Union, which was later repealed in 1991. The party has previously passed resolutions labeling Israel an apartheid state committing genocide (September 2024) and calling the IDF a terrorist organization (October 2025).

Proponents of the current motion, while uncertain of its passage, anticipate it will pass with little to no opposition. The motion aims to sever the connection between the Jewish people and the land of Israel, negate Jewish self-determination as an ethnic group, and reclassify the Jewish nation as solely a religion whose adherents worldwide lack a distinct national identity. The motion's authors argue against equating anti-Zionism with antisemitism, even when anti-Zionist statements employ traditional antisemitic tropes, such as claims of Jewish control over global finance.

Furthermore, the motion defines Zionism as a movement rooted in occupation, disconnected from Judaism, and asserts that only the Palestinian perspective on Zionism is relevant. The authors of the motion are accused of legitimizing the October 7, 2023 attacks and other violence against Jews, framing the conflict as one of oppression justifying any Palestinian response, including mass murder. They advocate for a "democratic Palestinian state" between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, a solution described as either ignorant or criminally disingenuous, given the existence of equal rights for Arab citizens in Israel and the absence of Jews under Palestinian Authority rule.

The motion also mandates practical actions for party members, including boycotts of Israel, severing institutional ties, and demanding reparations for Palestinians. While Israel cannot prevent the motion's passage, it is urged to work covertly and overtly to prevent the election of party members to official positions and to isolate those who are elected. The article stresses Israel's need to proactively assert the narrative of the Jewish people and Zionism, as opponents are currently dominating the discourse.