Speitan, who is responsible for putting forward the inflammatory motion, as well as producing the booklet, writes in the document: “We know if we do not act now, by the time the rest of the world has finished playing catch up with the horror inflicted upon our people, there may be nothing left.
“Irrespective of potential pushback, nothing can be done to us that is worse than witnessing the slaughter of our loved ones and our systematic erasure. To stand by and do nothing as this accelerates is worse than the prospect of death itself. What is coming to the rest of the world is foreshadowed by what is happening in Palestine now.
She continues: “We must bring an end to this racism and the monstrous state that has been built upon it. Beyond Palestine and our region, this is a threat to peace and freedom everywhere. We are heartened to report that our motion has been received with overwhelming support. This is a significant step. We will continue to hope, resist and rise for liberation.”
'Zionism is Racism: Why it matters' document that is to be distributed to attendees of the Green Party conference in October[Missing Credit]
Contents page of the 'Zionism is Racism: Why it matters' document that is to be distributed to attendees of the Green Party conference in October[Missing Credit]
Elsewhere in the booklet, under the heading “The Right to Self-Determination includes the Right to Resistance”, the author notes: “Various peoples freed themselves from colonial rule and foreign oppression to realise independent statehood after World War II. Their practices
serve as convincing evidence for this right to resist under international law, and its viability as a national liberation strategy.”
She adds: “Indeed, numerous UN General Assembly resolutions recognise the legitimacy of struggling by all available means, including armed struggle, by peoples under colonial domination or foreign occupation to realise the right to self-determination.”
The motion is intended to complement earlier Green Party positions, including a call for the proscription of the IDF as a terrorist organisation and a demand that the UK “formally apologise to the people of Palestine for the Balfour Declaration”.
Party leader Zack Polanski has not yet publicly stated a position on the motion, though he is understood to have reservations. Polanski, who is Jewish, has reportedly been warned that a heavy focus on Gaza could create internal rifts and risks alienating the party’s traditional voter base, particularly in rural areas.
The Green Party conference will take place in Brighton from 2 to 4 October.
The party has faced repeated allegations of antisemitism following comments by candidates and members in recent years. After it emerged that several Green Party candidates had made allegedly antisemitic comments ahead of local council elections in May, Polanski said: “Those messages are all unacceptable and it’s important to condemn that.”
He also insisted that antisemitism was “completely unwelcome in the Green party, as it is in society.”
The Green Party has been approached for comment.
