Greens pass ‘Zionism is racism’ motion leaving Jewish members shocked and in tears over ‘betrayal’

After the vote, there was a chant from members outside the hall of “Say it loud, say it clear, Zionists are not welcome here,” as activists celebrated the result while others, including Jewish members, wept.

Israel reacted to the news claiming the Green Party “has become a body that gives legitimacy to terrorism” and that the resolution is a “stain” on Britain’s history.

The motion was also condemned by Danny Stone of the Antisemitism Policy Trust (APT) as a “disgrace” and “extremist”, and he also raised the possibility of a legal challenge.

The JC spoke to several Jewish Greens seeking the safe room – a space the party has provided for Jews feeling unsafe at conference since last year.

The motion states that Zionism “will be treated as any other form of racism”, and the Green Party is an “anti-racist” party. It also defends Palestinians’ right to “resist” and calls for a single Palestinian state.

Party spokeswoman Abi Wilkinson told the JC that the amendment’s rejection "does not mean the Green Party is going to persecute Jewish members for attending synagogues”.

Campaigners exiting the main hall after the result was announced chanted “Free Palestine”, cheered and ululated, while some Jewish Greens were in shock and others cried.

Elise Benjamin, a member of the Oxford branch and a founding member of the Jewish Greens, turned her voting card into a yellow star and pinned it to her lapel.

She said she considers the party is “no longer the Green Party because the Green Party must have equal rights and justice for everyone. It believes in a process of bridge building and avoiding non-violence, and now that has all gone.

“My family were murdered in the Holocaust... now people here have celebrated a vote that will make Jews unsafe.”

Elise Benjamin turned her voting card into a yellow star (The JC)[Missing Credit]

The motion was proposed by Lubna Speitan of Greens 4 Palestine.

Speaking about the vote, which took place on Simchat Torah, Benjamin said: “The fact that it is on the day of a religious festival and remembering back to the fact that October 7 was same festival – how can we not be frightened?”

She added: “To be lied about, have our history revised and have it implied we have turned our trauma from the Holocaust is the worst and most antisemitic part of this.

“There were people who laughed and scoffed when antisemitsm was mentioned when someone was speaking against the motion.”

Longtime Jewish Green Craig Simmons had spoken in favour of the safeguarding amendment. He said he felt “betrayed” by the party.

“The amendment did not seem to change the substantive nature of the motion; it just protects Jews.”

Asked about the atmosphere in the hall, from which the press were barred, he said: “it was surprisingly tame, people weren’t shouting or screaming. It was almost civil accept what people were voting for, and that is shocking. It makes it even worse. They were so matter of fact.”

Simmons said he needed time to reflect on the vote before deciding what to do next, but was considering leaving because he feared the party had now become “institutionally antisemitic”.

“If they act on the motion without the protections of the amendment [which failed] it will become institutionally antiemetic. The proposes have said they will go after people who attend synagogue.”

The motion passed despite opposition from Green MPs, including Ellie Chowns, who addressed the conference by video link. She warned that it “risks alienating many people including Jewish communities,” and said the party would “risk being perceived as an antisemitic party. Please vote against this motion so we can advocate powerfully for peace and justice.”

Chowns, the MP for North Herefordshire, added that the motion could “hugely weaken” the party’s ability to advocate for Palestinian justice.

Caroline Lucas, the party’s former Brighton MP, also spoke against the motion. Describing herself as a “longtime” supporter of the Palestinian cause who had visited the West Bank and Gaza, she called it an “oversimplification”.

“Zionism means different things to different people,” she said. “It is both racist and a response to racism. The political Zionist movement emerged as a direct response to persecution in Europe. So for European Jews, it wasn’t always ideology that propelled them to Israel.”

She added that a "refusal to accept the complexities” of Zionism was "leading to so many Jewish members to feel scared and unwelcome in our party.”

Activist Stephen Kapos, meanwhile, spoke in favour of the motion. Helped onto the stage by co-deputy leader Mothin Ali, he said: “Zionism is an extreme form of racism. Fifteen members of my family perished in the gas chambers.”

“Israel is a Zionist apartheid regime,” he added, claiming that it had “Deteriorated into open genocide. Zionism and genocide are intertwined. I am an antizionist and support the motion.”

Speitan concluding her speech in support of the motion urging delegates to “be a Macklemore, not a Sheeran”, a reference to Ed Sheeran dropping pro-Palestine rapper Macklemore from his tour.

The vote comes as the Greens contest the Holborn and St Pancras by-election in north London, where the party’s leader Zack Polanski is polling a close second to Labour.

Party membership has more than tripled since Polanski became leader, rising from 68,000 at the time of his election to 230,000, meaning that just under 0.5 per cent of the party members voted in favour of the Zionism is racism motion. 

Polanski did not vote on the motion or say how he would have voted – but he did say he believed Zionism was racism during a Jewish community hustings for the seat last week.

Former leader Natalie Bennett told the JC she was not voting on the motion. One Jewish Green, who understood that Bennett had opposed it when it was first proposed to the conference last spring, described her decision as an abdication of her responsibility as a Green member of the House of Lords.

“A member of the House of Lords should have capacity to come and vote on something that will change nature of the party,” the member said.

David Urban, a member of the Hammersmith and Fulham branch and a former Green candidate, said: “Jews are the canary in the coal mine and it looks like the canary is dying.

“There were some people who were brave enough to have the courage and speak against it but ultimately, it’s for nothing. Jewish people need other brave progressives to stand with us because otherwise we will never have the numbers.”

Another Jewish Green, who has campaigned for the party across the country and did not want to be named, said: “This makes me want to leave the party.”

“This doesn’t make me more right-wing,” he added, “I wouldn’t want to support a different party, but I might leave the Greens.

“I worried that the motion would pass but I would have thought that the amendment three at the very least would have passed,” he said, referring to the Jewish safeguarding amendment.

A further Jewish Green, whose grandparents survived the Holocaust, left the hall in tears after the vote.

“It is upsetting. I was surprising by how much the amendment wasn’t passed,” she said.

“I hope people voted against the [Jewish safety amendment] because they felt the idea that Jews will be targeted is so ludicrous.”

The member, who has been a Green for more than a decade, said she would stay and “fight for the party culture”.

“I didn’t join the party to do Jewish things, I joined to help the environment and fight right... There was a time when I said I could see myself leaving over this, but the conversations I’ve had this week with ordinary party members suggest that I am still on the same page as most of them on issues."

Danny Stone, APT chief executive, spoke out to condemn the “disgusting” motion.

He said: “The Green Party decision today is a disgrace and its position now an extremist one. There is a long history to this debate and it always manifests as abuse of Jews. I fear for what is to come.

"Whether the motion will pass the legal tests that will no doubt follow is to be seen but any party which fails to pass an amendment seeking to enhance safety for its Jewish members should be doing some deep soul searching. Disgusting.”

Israel’s ministry of foreign affairs said in a statement: “Today, the Green Party in Britain ceased to act as a political party and became a body that gives legitimacy to terrorism.

"The Greens have adopted not only the green of Hamas, but also its ideology: the elimination of the State of Israel through armed struggle.

“The shocking resolution adopted today legitimises armed struggle, calls for a Palestinian state “from the river to the sea” - meaning the destruction of the State of Israel - and labels as “racist” the aspiration of the Jewish people for self-determination.

“This goes far beyond the boundaries of legitimate political debate. As long as this resolution remains in place, it will stand as a stain on the history of the United Kingdom.”