Green Party to debate member motion on Zionism Sunday

Green Party members were expected to debate and vote Sunday on a member-proposed motion defining Zionism as racism, as senior figures including former leader Caroline Lucas said they would oppose it and party leader Zack Polanski called for changes to the proposal. The motion, submitted by party members rather than the leadership, would treat Zionism as a form of racism and be implemented by the party’s antiracism policy working group, according to accounts of its wording. If approved, it would become official Green Party policy. The conference debate and vote were still pending in reports published Friday, October 2; no outcome had been reported. Lucas said she would not support the motion, warning that Zionism has no single definition and that the proposal could be divisive or make Jewish people feel unwelcome in the party. Former co-leader Adrian Ramsay also said he would vote against it. He argued that adopting the motion could be seen as failing to support the rights of both Israelis and Palestinians to statehood, and pointed to the party’s 2024 manifesto commitment to equal rights for both peoples.