Green Party motion puts discipline and membership under scrutiny

A motion declaring “Zionism is racism” is due for debate at the Green Party’s annual conference. It calls for a single Palestinian state and, if passed, could expose members who support Zionism to disciplinary action, according to The Guardian. The motion topped a ballot of policy issues for debate; its outcome has not been reported.

The Guardian reports that Greens for Palestine, a group not formally affiliated with the party, repeatedly urged supporters to join specifically to secure debate and adoption of the motion. The party says membership has grown as people join to support its full policy platform, and that most members joined before a specific mobilisation effort.

The report describes collaboration between Greens for Palestine and the Anti-Zionist Movement, including joint social media posts and a meeting attended by motion co-author Lubna Speitan. It says AZM member David Miller has called for Zionist organisations to be dismantled. The nature of any formal relationship between the groups is not established.

The Green Party says it does not support AZM’s views. Party leader Zack Polanski has described himself as anti-Zionist and supported amendments to soften the motion, which Speitan rejected, The Guardian reports.

The debate centres on competing understandings of Zionism: supporters view it as a movement for a Jewish homeland, while critics see it as a colonial project linked to Palestinian dispossession. The Guardian notes that antisemites sometimes use “Zionist” as a synonym for Jew.