Jewish Greens leader threatens to quit Zack Polanski's party over ‘Zionism is racism’ motion
The leader of the Jewish Greens has threatened to ditch the party after members voted to adopt a motion declaring "Zionism is racism" as policy.
Vivien Lichtenstein admitted it was "possible" she may leave Zack Polanski's party after members backed the motion, which also calls for Israel to be abolished and replaced by a sole Palestinian state.
She slammed the motion as "unhelpful", declaring it "does not make any difference whatsoever to Palestinians".
Ms Lichtenstein said she is "giving it a little time" and will "talk to colleagues" before making a final decision on whether to walk away from the party.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, the Jewish Greens leader voiced her concern the policy could be used to target Jewish organisations.
She said: “I’m not concerned about people accusing me of supporting Israel’s right to exist, and therefore, I’m a racist, which of course is not the case. I’m just concerned that this is a very bad motion.
“What concerns me is that the party might accuse UK organisations, Jewish organisations, and also Israeli-Jewish and joint Arab-Jewish organisations, of being Zionist and therefore racist.
"I support an awful lot of those sorts of organisations that are working against the occupation, and even go out on the ground to assist Palestinians.”
Ms Lichtenstein acknowledged Jewish party members were split on whether to back the motion. She noted party policy had been that it should be “up to Israelis and Palestinians to choose their future, one state or two”.
Senior Jewish figures have condemned the "appalling" motion, with Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis labelling it a "threat to British Jews and to Britain".
“All decent people will see this for what it is: poisonous antisemitism," he said.
Israel has condemned the policy, accusing Mr Polanski’s party of giving “legitimacy to terrorism” and backing the elimination of the State of Israel through armed struggle.
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The Israeli foreign ministry described the resolution as “shocking” and called on every British political party, including Labour, to reject it.
Following the backlash, Mr Polanski has been barred from entering Israel altogether, the country’s ministry of foreign affairs confirmed.
The Green leader did not take part in the vote itself, having left the conference to campaign in the Holborn and St Pancras by-election.
The policy states Zionism – the movement supporting Jewish self-determination in the Jewish people’s ancestral homeland – should be considered racist and calls for the abolition of Israel and the creation of a “single democratic Palestinian state in all of historic Palestine with Jerusalem as its capital”.
The motion also backs the “right of the Palestinian people to resistance and liberation from Israeli occupation”, and recognises the right of “oppressed colonial peoples to defend themselves against foreign oppression”. It further supports the “removal of Palestine Action from the list of proscribed organisations”.
Prior to the vote, some Jewish members feared they could be expelled from the party if they belonged to Jewish groups that explicitly support Zionism.
Former Green councillor Salma Yaqoob has insisted the motion will "absolutely not" lead to members who support Jewish self-determination in the Jewish people’s ancestral homeland being kicked out of the party.
A party spokesman said: “The Green Party is an anti-racist party and has consistently opposed the illegal occupation of both Palestinian and Syrian land, called for an end to arms sales to the Israeli government and spoken out fearlessly about the devastating situation in Gaza and the West Bank.
“Those positions remain central to our approach. So too does our deeply-held commitment to equality, justice and human rights for all, and opposition to racism in all its forms.”
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