The Greens have banned a Jewish-Palestinian peace organisation from attending their annual conference because it would breach the party’s rules on boycotting Israel, the JC can reveal.
The hardline stance against Standing Together comes despite the Israel-based group’s radical opposition to the Jerusalem government, which it accuses of waging a “genocidal war” and “apartheid”.
Reacting to the latest extraordinary revelation of the Greens’ refusal to have any dealings with Israel, Jewish leaders have called on the party to “reject ideological extremists”.
It comes ahead of a possible vote at next month’s conference on a motion claiming that “Zionism is racism”.
The JC can also reveal:
- Greens are pushing for sanctions against Iran and the ban on the regime’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to be reversed;
- Party members are simultaneously demanding councils bring in a BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) ban on any Israel-linked investments;
- The party is taking advice on Jewish issues from Diaspora Alliance, an organisation which opposes the IHRA definition of antisemitism;
- The Antisemitism Policy Trust (APT) was “shamefully” excluded from the conference after the party consulted Jewish Greens – a group one source claims has been taken over by antizionists.
Green Party leaders, Harriet Lamb, CEO, Zack Polanski, party leader, and deputies Mothin Ali and Rachel Millward on the second day of the Green Party Conference at Bournemouth International Centre at Bournemouth International Centre on October 04, 2025. (Getty Images)Getty Images
The JC understands that UK Friends of Standing Together has been barred from hosting a stall or fringe event.
The grassroots movement of progressive Jews and Palestinians who “campaign against the occupation and for peace, equality, and social justice,” has a Green group backed by most of the party’s parliamentarians but has been blocked from conference.
In 2024, a BDS body, the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) branded Standing Together “an Israeli normalisation outfit that seeks to distract from and whitewash Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza”.
UK Friends of Standing Together rejected the accusation, accusing PACBI of a “fixation on forms of language above practical politics”, adding that Standing Together describe Israel’s policy in the West Bank as “apartheid” and the war in Gaza as “genocidal”.
The group also highlighted how the Israeli authorities have arrested its members, and one chapter was banned from an Israeli university after displaying images of children killed in Gaza.
The APT led by chief executive Danny Stone is also blocked from the conference after it suggested a session with pollsters More in Common titled “The Greens and Antisemitism: what does getting it right look like?”, with Green MP Ellie Chowns on the panel.
A general view of the Green Party plenary meeting on the final day of the Green Party Conference, at Bournemouth International Centre on October 05, 2025. (Getty Images)Getty Images
The JC has learnt that the event was cancelled after conference organisers consulted the Jewish Greens, a party-affiliated liberation group that runs training on antisemitism, and on whose committee Polanski previously sat as treasurer.
Jewish Green chair Vivien Lichtenstein thought the event “should include other issues... than just looking at antisemitism in isolation” but the suggestion was declined by More In Common.
Meanwhile, the JC has learnt that party officials have turned for advice on Jewish matters to Diaspora Alliance (DA), which has campaigned against the International Holocaust Remembrance Association (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, as adopted by the UK government and other authorities worldwide.
DA claim the definition “has been used to repress free speech and silence those who campaign against Israel’s government’s actions”.
One communal source said DA’s involvement indicates that the party is looking for training from groups that do not align with the views of “mainstream British Jewry, or widely accepted definitions,” and they said this pointed to a “concerning direction in the Green Party”.
One motion proposed for conference by Animah Kosai, a member of the Green Party Council and a committee member of Global Majority Greens alongside Mothin Ali, is titled “Councillors to apply BDS for Palestine in councils”.
It urges Green councillors to divest from “complicit” stocks and banks, citing Barclays as an example.
With more than 1,300 councillors across England and Wales, the motion says the party should use its increased local authority power to pass divestment motions.
Green Party MP's, members, activists and supporters gather on Bournemouth beach for a 'Red Line for Palestine' protest on the second day of the Green Party Conference, on October 04, 2025 in Bournemouth. (Getty Images)Getty Images
A second motion, “Applying BDS internally in the Green Party”, warns that the party uses products and services from companies on BDS lists, asserting that “Outwardly having BDS views isn’t enough. The Green Party must adhere to BDS internally as well.”
At the same time, members are calling an end to measures against the Islamic Republic.
One motion, “From confrontation to peace with Iran”, calls for sanctions against Iran to be scrapped and for Britain to drop its proscription of the IRGC.
On the party’s official discussion board, the motion’s supporters advocated for “diplomatic normalisation” with Tehran, an end to “Western imperialism” in the region and claimed that economic sanctions against the regime “primarily harm civilians”.
One contributor to the discussion about another Iran-focused motion accused parts of the Greens of “pro-regime infiltration”.
The debate became sufficiently heated for a party official to intervene, suspending the discussion on July 13, the same day Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood designated the IRGC a threat to national security.
Linking to a news article about the new law banning support for the IRGC, a member of the party’s Standing Orders Committee (SOC) said, “in light of the news today,” that the committee was “seeking legal advice” on the two motions.
“SOC will be reviewing all comments on both motions and deleting comments where necessary,” she wrote, and the conference page subsequently recorded: “The comments are closed.”
Greens arguing in support of continued sanctions against the Islamic Republic accused other party members of “speaking over Iranians.”
One British-Iranian warned of “misinformation, pro-regime infiltration both within and outside of the party”.
The conference may also see a debate over the motion “Zionism is racism”. If selected and passed, it would make the Greens the first UK political party to formally define the belief in Jewish self-determination as a racist ideology.
A video is now circulating among anti-Israel activists explaining how to register for Green membership and urging them to place the “Zionism is racism” motion first in their priority ballot, while ranking an opposing motion calling for a two-state solution last.
The video warns that the second motion could “split energy or offer a softer alternative that steals airtime”.
The JC understands that the latter, titled “Building a consensus in support for Palestinian liberation”, is an attempt by some members, including one Jewish Green, to find a less “divisive” position on Israel.
It urges the party “to end impunity for Israel, condemn its racist, ethnonationalist basis, and build steps towards a free Palestine”.
Some members of the Green leadership team are understood to be frustrated by the “Zionism is racism” motion. But with hundreds of co-proposers – compared with the dozens typically secured by other motions – party insiders believe it is likely to be slated for debate when the ballot closes at midnight on August 27.
Green Party leader Zack Polanski (cr) with Carla Denyer MP (l), Ellie Chowns MP and Mothin Ali, Deputy Leader of the Green Party, listen to the Global Majority Greens speech on the final day of the Green Party Conference at Bournemouth International Centre, on October 05, 2025 in Bournemouth, England. (Getty Images)Getty Images
Since Polanski became leader last year on an “eco populist” platform, Green membership has soared from 66,000 to a reported 230,000 as of this May.
One Jewish Green told the JC that they fear the group has now been “taken over” by antizionist activists.
The group initially urged members to vote against the “Zionism is racism” motion.
But after dissent among some in the growing Jewish group, this month it issued an “interim” statement withdrawing that view. It now says it has “no official position” on the motion. The new statement acknowledges that “some members” believe the motion “would risk the party discriminating against Jews”, while notes that other Jewish Greens “support the motion in its entirety”.
Litchenstein, chair of Jewish Greens, said: “Our constitution [says] that ‘Jewish Greens will not offer a single position on topics such as Israel-Palestine or Zionism and will instead seek to provide a range of opinions’. And ‘it is paramount that Jewish Greens is a space for all Jews in the Green Party regardless of the deeply held divisions in society and our community on these issues.’”
But another Jewish Green said the faction’s shifting position on Israel, combined with the number of new Green members who have joined because of the party’s anti-Israel stance, means that internal Jewish opposition to the “Zionism is racism” motion will inevitably collapse.
“Some of us are trying to counter [the motion] as much as we can, but there is not much more we can do because we just do not have the numbers,” they said.
One Jewish communal leader said they feared the Greens were heading down the same path as the Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn.
“Jewish Greens have got splits, and people trying to infiltrate and take it over... it is exactly what happened with Labour, the party has been taken over by the hard left.”
In response to this, Litchenstein pointed to the group’s “democratic” structure.
Phil Rosenberg, the president of the Board of Deputies, said the organisation had “repeatedly conveyed concerns” to the party about the “hostility” felt by its Jewish members.
Rosenberg called on party members to “reject the agenda of ideological extremists who show open contempt for Jewish identity and experience”.
“We are very concerned by evidence of a growing climate of hostility felt by Jews in the Green Party, including a motion for their autumn conference that Jewish Greens warned in February was an ‘attack on Jewish identity’. We have repeatedly conveyed concerns directly to the party.
“Reports that the party has rejected conference events offered by experts on antisemitism and by Israeli peace builders are further troubling signs. We call on party members to reject the agenda of ideological extremists who show open contempt for Jewish identity and experience,” he said.
Danny Stone, the chief executive of the Antisemitism Policy Trust, said: “Last time I was at Green Party conference the session was disrupted and closed early. This time the Trust is being prevented from running a fringe at all. This is a terrible record and one the party should be concerned about and ashamed of. I hope it will reverse the decision and let us run our fringe. What are the organisers afraid of?
“Our event was set to be positive and educational. If Polanski’s Green Party cannot learn from the errors other parties have made in the past, it will be doomed to repeat them.”
UK Friends of Standing Together said: “[Our] supporters in several political parties plan to have a presence at their respective party conferences, to raise awareness of Standing Together’s fight against war, occupation, and racism, and for peace and equality. We are always happy to discuss areas where we don’t agree with others, and regret when this is not possible.”
A spokesperson for the Green Party said: “We work with a range of organisations on a range of topics.
“Boycotts, divestment and sanctions are policy options that helped bring an end to the Apartheid regime in South Africa. In the present day they are being widely used to put pressure on Israel to abide by international law. They are supported by a majority of the British public.”
On the Iran motions, they added: “The government’s ban does not apply to any comments made before July 13, 2026.
“This is one of a large number of motions proposed for our Autumn conference. All motions go through a prioritisation process, and few will actually be debated.”
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