Politics
Green Party divided after conference votes Zionism is racism
October 10, 2026 at 10:56 AM
Coverage
3 reports · 1 in Arabic, 2 in English · over 1 hour
يواليوم السابع
الانقسامات تهدد يسار بريطانيا.. وتصريح "الصهيونية عنصرية" أحد الأسباب
(opens the publisher’s site)
TGThe Guardian
Greens must avoid ‘capture by extremists and racists’, says party MP
(opens the publisher’s site)
BNBBC News
Green Party wants to make sure it is 'not vulnerable to extremists'
(opens the publisher’s site)Ellie Chowns, the party's Westminster leader, said it must avoid "capture by extremists and racists" after members voted to declare Zionism a form of racism.
- Green Party members passed a conference motion declaring Zionism a form of racism and backing a single Palestinian state, by 1,022 votes to 813.
- Chowns called the motion a "significant and damaging policy" passed by just 0.4% of members, showing the party's structures were not working.
- Zack Polanski, defeated by Labour in the Holborn and St Pancras byelection with 33% of the vote, said he would have voted against the motion and will remain leader.
- Jewish Greens chair Vivien Lichtenstein said Polanski should resign for missing the vote, while a no-confidence motion against her was tabled.
- Jewish Green Party members called for Polanski's resignation after he repeatedly refused to acknowledge Israel's right to exist.