Zionism is racist, says Scottish Green co-leader Ross Greer

Responding to the Green Party conference vote, the Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Jewish Leadership Council said:

“Branding most British Jews and Jewish institutions ‘racist’ stokes anti-Jewish hatred after a year in which British Jews have been murdered attending their synagogue, stabbed in the streets, and seen their community buildings firebombed.”

The European Green Party, of which the Green Party for England and Wales is a member, has said it wanted to “unequivocally distance” itself from the motion.

The umbrella body said it would “immediately demand clarity” from the party’s leadership on how they would protect Jewish people and self-determination.

Zack Polanski, leader of the Green Party in England and Wales, did not participate in the conference debate or vote on the motion.

Polanski, who is Jewish, has said that “antisemitism and criticism of the Israeli state are, and must always be, completely distinct”.

Four of the party’s five MPs opposed the motion.

Green MP Ellie Chowns told Radio 4’s PM programme that she was “deeply saddened” that the motion had become Green Party policy in England and Wales.

However, she disagreed it was antisemitic, saying it was underpinned by “principled opposition to the actions of the Israeli government”.

She noted that “less than 1%” of the party’s more than 200,000 members had participated in the vote.