UK Green Party Votes to Define Zionism as Racism
Translated & summarized from Haaretz by baba
The story in 5 lines · by baba
- UK Green Party voted to define Zionism as a form of racism.
- The resolution passed with over 1,000 votes in favor at the party's conference.
- The party called for a single democratic state in historic Palestine.
- The decision drew sharp criticism from the Jewish community and Israel.
- The Green Party also urged an end to arms sales to Israel.
The UK's Green Party voted on Sunday to define Zionism as a form of racism during their annual conference. The resolution passed with 1,022 votes in favor and 813 against, despite opposition from many party officials. Party leader Zak Polanski did not participate in the vote. In a statement, the party described Zionism as an "ethno-nationalist political project" and reaffirmed its support for self-determination and a single democratic state in all of historic Palestine. The Green Party, which garnered 6% of the vote in the 2024 general election, also reiterated its call for the Labour government to halt all arms trade with Israel.
The Movement for Reform Judaism criticized the decision, stating the Green Party had made antisemitism official policy and become a racist party. They noted that while some Jewish individuals supported the motion, it could still be used to discriminate against others. Mootheen Ali, the Green Party's deputy leader and a supporter of the resolution, told Sky News that the high number of Palestinian casualties in the war with Hamas was the primary context for the vote. He further elaborated that the resolution clearly defines Zionism as an ethno-nationalist movement, ethnic cleansing, and genocide.
Polanski and other party officials stated they would "continue to condemn the abhorrent crimes of the Netanyahu government" but emphasized that supporting Palestinian rights does not contradict the rights of the Jewish people. The Israeli Foreign Ministry responded sharply, declaring that the Green Party had ceased to function as a political party and had become a supporter of terror. The ministry accused the party of officially adopting Hamas's ideology, which calls for Israel's destruction through armed struggle. The statement condemned the resolution's call for a Palestinian state from the river to the sea, which it interprets as a call for Israel's annihilation, and its equation of Zionism with racism. The ministry urged all British parties, particularly Labour, to unequivocally disavow the "distorted text."
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