Members under 30 account for more than a quarter of the Green Party's membership, and the Young Greens have acted as a bellwether for future party policy, with previous anti-Israel motions first adopted by the youth wing before being taken up nationally.
Originally from Argentina, Dowbor – who unsuccessfully contested Arsenal ward in north London for the Greens at this year's local elections – is an antizionist activist who led a Young Greens motion in 2024 describing the war in Gaza as a genocide and helped secure support for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel. Both positions were later adopted by the national Green Party.
Her candidacy was backed by Green co-deputy leader Mothin Ali, who cited her work “as an anti-imperialist" among the reasons for his support.
Meanwhile, Muthoni is a director at UK Teach Anti Racism and Woodstock Town councillor in Oxfordshire.
At the same Young Greens convention this weekend, where delegates also heard from Green co-deputy, district councillor Rachel Millward, members voted in favour of a motion proposed by Dowbor to abandon the widely adopted IHRA definition of antisemitism.
Dowbor said she had written the motion "in collaboration with anti-Zionist Jewish Greens" [sic] and claimed that it provided "a framework that protects both Jewish members and those involved in the Palestine movement."
The new definition refers to antisemitism from "far-right and white nationalist movements" but makes no reference to Islamist antisemitism.
Jo Dowbor and Mothin Ali (Photo: Instagram)[Missing Credit]
It argues that the way the IHRA definition was adopted by the Young Greens in 2020 "raises questions about whether the guidance was designed primarily to provide clear practical guidance or to perform a political position" and criticises the original guidance – which was first adopted by the national party – for citing public intellectual and lawyer Anthony Julius and the late Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks.
"Both are committed Zionists making political arguments, not providing neutral analytical guidance," it states.
While the motion says, "Antisemitism is a serious form of racism that must be actively identified, challenged, and addressed within the Young Greens and the wider Green movement," it adopts a different definition from the IHRA.
"Antisemitism and political opposition to the state of Israel or the ideology of Zionism are not the same thing and must not be conflated. Conflating them does not protect Jewish people — it suppresses legitimate political speech and is used to shield Israeli government policies from accountability."
The motion states that "Holding Jewish people collectively responsible for the actions of the Israeli government, or for the actions of any other Jewish individual or institution" can be antisemitic, but that "Drawing comparisons between Israeli policies and historical examples of oppression, where this is done as political analysis and not as an expression of hatred toward Jewish people as a group" is not antisemitic.
This is a direct contrast with the IHRA definition, which explicitly states that comparing Israeli policy to that of the Nazis can be an example of contemporary Jew-hate.
The new Young Green guidance says that people must consider whether "conduct is directed at Jews as Jews... rather than whether it touches on Israel or Zionism as political subjects".
The JC approached Muthoni, Dowbor and the Green Party for comment.
