UK Green Party Adopts Anti-Zionist Stance, Declares Zionism a Form of Racism

The Green Party of England and Wales officially adopted an anti-Zionist policy on Sunday, with party members voting at their annual conference in Brighton to define Zionism as a form of racism. The resolution passed with 1,022 votes in favor and 813 against. In a formal statement following the vote, the party declared its opposition to Zionism, characterizing it as an "ethno-nationalist political project." The party also resolved that anti-Zionism should not be equated with antisemitism. The decision enshrines the Greens' support for the Palestinian "right of return," the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, and a full arms embargo on Israel. Furthermore, the party reiterated its support for establishing "one democratic state in all of historic Palestine," a position that signifies replacing the two-state solution with a single political framework.

The proposal faced opposition prior to the vote from senior party figures and British Jewish organizations. Following the vote, the party's five Members of Parliament, leader Zac Polanski, and two deputies issued a joint statement, pledging to prevent discrimination or harassment and emphasizing their belief that supporting Palestinian rights is not contradictory to supporting Jewish rights. The decision has drawn sharp reactions in Israel and from British Jewish and Zionist groups. Matan Bar Noy, head of the World Zionist Organization's delegation to Britain and Europe, released a video of himself tearing up a copy of the resolution outside the Houses of Parliament. This gesture was intended to recall a 1975 speech by Israel's UN Ambassador Chaim Herzog after the General Assembly adopted Resolution 3379, which declared "Zionism a form of racism and racial discrimination" before being repealed in 1991.

Bar Noy stated, "Zionism is the national liberation movement of the Jewish people and the expression of their right to self-determination in their historic homeland." He added, "Fifty-one years after the UN passed the shameful resolution equating Zionism with racism, and years after the world reversed it, some are trying to bring back the same lie through the back door." Tearing the resolution, he declared, "Here, in the heart of British democracy, our message is clear: we will not accept an attempt to turn the very right of the Jewish people to self-determination into racism. I am tearing up this resolution and throwing it where it belongs, in the dustbin of history." Bar Noy emphasized the decision's gravity given rising antisemitism in Britain and tensions surrounding Israel and the Jewish community, stating, "Criticism of the Israeli government is legitimate and let's debate it; denying the Jewish people's right to self-determination is something else entirely."

The vote exacerbates an internal division within the Green Party that has developed in recent months over their approach to Israel and Zionism. Four of the party's five MPs and other senior figures had distanced themselves from the proposal, while a group called "Greens for Palestine" actively promoted it among party members.