Green party leader Zack Polanski faced heckling at a Jewish community hustings in Holborn and St Pancras after declaring himself an anti-Zionist. Polanski is standing as a candidate in next month’s byelection in the constituency.
Speaking at the event last night, Polanski said Zionism – the movement for a Jewish state – was a form of racism because it involved the displacement and genocide of Palestinians. His remarks were met with boos from the audience.
Polanski’s remarks at the hustings
“I’m an anti-Zionist. I think countries have always been ideas and I think things change over time,” he said. Polanski, who is Jewish, said criticising the Israeli government and the occupation of Palestinian land was not antisemitic.
“We need to come together to recognise that when we call that antisemitic, we are making ourselves as Jewish people less safe,” he added.
Green party conference vote
As the Green party prepares for its annual conference, members are due to vote on a motion to declare Zionism as a form of racism in official policy. Some in the party fear it could alienate Jewish supporters if it passed.
A Green official said that many activists loyal to the party’s leadership might not be at the autumn conference because it takes place a week before voting in the Holborn and St Pancras byelection, in which Polanski hopes to take Keir Starmer’s old seat from Labour, potentially leaving more scope for others to push through the motion.
“The risk is that if it passes as it is we are alienating ourselves from the Jewish community in the UK, a lot of whom are not big fans of the current Israeli government,” a Green source said. There was, they added, a parallel worry about internal splits, with some Green activists in leaked WhatsApp chats warning that Polanski was “struggling to overcome Zionist indoctrination”.
