Polanski’s Zionism remarks test Green Party policy ahead of byelection
The Green Party leader was booed at a Jewish community hustings after describing Zionism as racism. Party members are due to vote on a related policy motion at the party’s annual conference.
Green Party leader Zack Polanski faced boos at a Jewish community hustings in Holborn and St Pancras after declaring himself an anti-Zionist. He is standing in the seat’s byelection next month.
Polanski described Zionism, which he called the movement for a Jewish state, as a form of racism, saying it involved the displacement and genocide of Palestinians. Those claims were his characterisation.
He said criticism of the Israeli government and its occupation of Palestinian land was not antisemitic. He also argued that labelling such criticism antisemitic made Jewish people less safe.
The remarks come as Green Party members prepare to vote at the party’s annual conference on a motion to define Zionism as a form of racism in official policy. The vote’s outcome has not been reported.
The Guardian Politics reported that a Green source feared the motion, if passed, could alienate Jewish supporters and deepen divisions within the party. The source’s concerns were presented as risks, not established consequences.
