The Green party is facing internal turmoil ahead of its annual conference as a motion declaring "Zionism is racism" tops the agenda, with a group encouraging people to join the party specifically to support the policy.
Greens for Palestine (GfP), a group not formally affiliated with the party, has urged backers of the motion to sign up as Green members to get it debated and adopted. The group has links to activists who argue that pro-Israel "infiltrators" must be rooted out of the UK, the Guardian has learned.
Motion and Membership Concerns
The motion, which came top of a members' ballot of policy issues to be debated at the event in Brighton, calls for a single Palestinian state. If passed, it would mean members who support Zionism could be disciplined for racism.
Some Green members are increasingly concerned that the party risks being manipulated by extremist outsiders. Some Jewish members have said privately they fear it will be difficult for them to remain in the party if the policy passes.
Leadership Pressure and Byelection
Zack Polanski, who leads the Green party in England and Wales, has come under pressure to take a definitive stance on the motion. The controversy comes ahead of next week's key Holborn and St Pancras byelection, where Polanski is seeking to win Keir Starmer's former seat.
Polanski last week declared he was anti-Zionist, adding that Zionism was a form of racism because it involved the displacement and genocide of Palestinians. However, he has supported amendments to tone down the motion.
Group Links and Reactions
Lubna Speitan, a leading member of GfP who co-authored the motion, has rejected the amendments. "It doesn't matter what the leadership thinks," Speitan said in a recent video, adding: "We are certainly not here to negotiate the terms of our liberation or oppression with any of our oppressors."
GfP and Speitan have links to the Anti-Zionist Movement (AZM), a more militant campaign group that argues the "so-called Jewish state" should be dismantled, along with "Zionist organisations" in the UK and elsewhere. A key member of AZM is David Miller, a former academic sacked by Bristol University over his criticisms of Israel, who now presents a show for Press TV, the Iranian state channel.
In social media posts, Miller has argued that Zionists have, as "infiltrators and subversives", gained access to not just all UK political parties but also "the media, entertainment industries, the law, financial institutions, sports and all sorts of apparently obscure parts of the UK". In a video posted by AZM, Miller said his aim was to "dismantle Zionist organisations wherever they are in the world, including the 3,000 or 4,000 Zionist organisations in this country".
Some senior Greens say they are deeply worried about the links. One said: "I just don't understand why Zack hasn't provided any leadership on this, especially when we have such a crucial byelection just days later."
A spokesperson for the Greens said: "The Green party is a democratic party and membership has grown as more people join to support our full policy platform. The vast majority of members joined prior to a specific attempt at mobilisation." They added: "The Green party does not support the views of the AZM."
A spokesperson for GfP cited Miller's employment tribunal, saying it "concluded that anti-Zionist beliefs constitute a protected belief", adding: "We reject all conflations of anti-Zionism with antisemitism, just as we reject the settler colonial project in occupied Palestine." Asked about the links to AZM, they added: "We welcome the adoption of our motion by all anti-racist organisations, political parties and unions."
GfP, the statement added, "affirms the Palestinian people's inalienable right to self-determination, including the right of the Palestinian people to resistance and liberation from Israeli occupation, domination and subjugation" via any means under international law.
