{"id":2181,"date":"2026-10-05T17:03:43","date_gmt":"2026-10-05T12:03:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=2181"},"modified":"2026-10-05T17:03:43","modified_gmt":"2026-10-05T12:03:43","slug":"uk-green-party-declares-zionism-is-racism-angering-israel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=2181","title":{"rendered":"UK Green Party declares Zionism is racism, angering Israel"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Britain\u2019s Green Party voted to classify Zionism as a form of \u200cracism, drawing criticism from British Jews and from the Israeli government, which said it now viewed the party as \u201ca body that gives legitimacy to terrorism\u201d.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Greens \u2013 who received 6% of the vote in a national election in 2024 and have around 10% support in recent opinion polls \u2013 said they regarded Zionism as \u201can ethnonationalist political project\u201d and repeated their call for Britain\u2019s Labour government to end all arms trade with Israel.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe \u200bmotion also restates the Green Party\u2019s backing for the right to self-determination and calls for the establishment of a single democratic state throughout historic Palestine,\u201d the \u200bparty said in a statement on Sunday.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Green party leader banned from Israel<\/h3>\n

The definition of Zionism \u2013 which inspired the foundation of the \u2060modern state of Israel in the 20th century \u2013 and what it implies for the rights of non-Jews in Israel and neighbouring territory, is contentious.<\/p>\n

Mothin Ali, deputy leader of \u200bthe Green Party and a supporter of the motion, told Sky News on Saturday that the heavy Palestinian death toll during Israel\u2019s offensive in Gaza was the key context for \u200bthe vote.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe motion defines Zionism quite clearly. It defines it as an ethnonationalist movement. It defines it as ethnic cleansing. It defines it as genocide,\u201d Ali said.<\/p>\n

Israel rejects claims of genocide and ethnic cleansing.<\/p>\n

Tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli offensive since October 7, 2023.<\/p>\n

Israel\u2019s overwhelming military response triggered greater diplomatic isolation of Israel, unprecedented international legal scrutiny and stronger demands for an end to its occupation of Gaza.<\/p>\n

It has \u200balso polarised the debate over Israel\u2019s policies toward the Palestinians and has increased Western support for Palestinian statehood, with the notable exception of the United States.<\/p>\n

Israel responded to the UK Greens\u2019 \u200cmove by barring \u2060party leader Zack Polanski from entering Israel. Polanski, who is Jewish and did not vote on the motion, is seeking election to the British parliament on Thursday in former Prime Minister Keir Starmer\u2019s now-vacant London constituency.<\/p>\n

The Israeli foreign ministry said in a post on X on Sunday that the motion \u201cconstitutes a clear antisemitic text according to the IHRA (International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance) definition, as it denies the Jewish people\u2019s right to self-determination\u201d.<\/p>\n

<\/a>British Jews condemn Greens\u2019 motion<\/h3>\n

The Green Party motion passed by a majority of 1,022 to 813 despite \u200bopposition from many senior figures, prompting condemnation \u200bfrom British Jewish groups.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Green Party \u2060has made antisemitism party policy and become a racist party,\u201d the Movement for Progressive Judaism said, adding that the support of some Jews for the motion did not mean it would not be used to discriminate against others.<\/p>\n

Britain\u2019s Community Security Trust, a Jewish \u200borganisation, last year recorded the second-highest number of antisemitic incidents since it began collecting data in 1984. It said incidents \u200brose after Israel\u2019s offensive in \u2060Gaza.<\/p>\n

Israel called on Sunday for other British political parties to condemn the Green Party vote. \u201cThe Greens have adopted not only the green of Hamas, but also its ideology: the elimination of the State of Israel through armed struggle,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n

Britain\u2019s governing Labour Party said the vote crossed a line and should be condemned across the political spectrum.<\/p>\n

The UK government views \u2060Israeli settlers\u2019 actions \u200bin the West Bank as amounting to ethnic cleansing but has said courts must decide if other \u200bIsraeli actions qualify as genocide. Israel has denied ethnic cleansing.<\/p>\n

Polanski and other senior Green Party figures said they would \u201ccontinue to call out the heinous crimes of the Netanyahu government,\u201d and that \u201cthere is no conflict between supporting the \u200brights of Palestinians and the rights of Jewish people.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Britain\u2019s Green Party voted to classify Zionism as a form of \u200cracism, drawing criticism from British Jews and from the Israeli government, which said it now viewed the party as \u201ca body that gives legitimacy to terrorism\u201d. The Greens \u2013 who received 6% of the vote in a national election in 2024 and have around 10% support in recent opinion polls \u2013 said they regarded Zionism as \u201can ethnonationalist political project\u201d and repeated their call for Britain\u2019s Labour government to end all arms trade with Israel. \u201cThe \u200bmotion also restates…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2181","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english"],"gutentor_comment":0,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2181","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2181"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2181\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2181"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2181"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2181"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}