The Green Party is investigating the lead author of the “Zionism is racism” motion who was listed as a “close friend” of a convicted al-Qaeda terrorist, according to US court documents.
The JC understands that the investigation into Lubna Speitan will also relate to complaints over recent comments.
In a video clip at a protest, she called for Zionists to be “hunted in the same way as the Nazi aggressors were”.
In a Greens for Palestine discussion on Zoom, she suggested that synagogues which support Israel should be “confronted”.
Speitan had called Heathrow bomb plotter Minh Quang Pham one of the “kindest, honest, most sincere, trustworthy and respectful people I have ever known” in written testimony in his defence for a US court, the JC revealed yesterday.
It came after her motion was passed at the weekend, sparking widespread condemnation by mainstream politicians and Jewish leaders.
Asked about Speitan’s “friendship” with convicted terrorist Pham, the Green Party first said: "The referenced court document does not suggest or evidence any illegality and is a decade old."
But hours later the party confirmed that it was taking the allegations “seriously” and had “internal processes to investigate.”
Speitan’s motion was passed by party members at the Green conference this weekend by 1,022 to 813 votes.
The motion formally defined Zionism as a “racist ideology” and called for the abolition of the state of Israel, to be replaced by a “single democratic Palestinian state in all of historic Palestine with Jerusalem as its capital”.
It expressed support for what it called “the right of the Palestinian people to resistance and liberation from Israeli occupation, domination and subjugation” by “all available means, including armed struggle”.
A “Jewish safeguarding” amendment to the motion that said it would not be used to “pressure, proscribe or discipline members based on affiliation with Jewish community institutions” was voted down 1,026 votes to 648.
Minh Quang Pham was accused by US prosecutors of plotting to carry out a suicide bomb attack at Heathrow Airport. He was arrested in the UK in June 2012 when British authorities searching him at the airport found Kalashnikov-related ammunition on his person.
He was extradited to the US in February 2015 and in 2016 sentenced by a US court to 44 years in prison.
He was found to have travelled to Yemen, where he received military training to carry out a suicide attack at Heathrow. He pleaded guilty to supporting al-Qaeda but denied planning a suicide attack.
There is no suggestion that she knew of any criminal activity or terrorist affiliation. It is understood she knew him at college only.
In February 2016, Speitan wrote to the US judge: “It is with great pleasure that I share with you what I know of my dear friend Minh.”
Speitan was willing to provide testimony in Pham’s defence during his trial, but said her health did not permit travel, hence the letter.
She wrote to the US judge appealing for the case against her “simple and loyal” friend to be dismissed.
“If only you truly knew the Minh that I and others grew to love and respect you would not help but to consider his case with great affection and understanding” and would have “the whole case dismissed”.
A Green Party spokesperson said: “Lubna Speitan holds no party positions other than being a member. The Green Party takes all allegations of this nature seriously. Where members have expressed views that do not fit in with the party’s values, we have internal processes to investigate.”
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