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The UK Green Party will vote at its upcoming Spring Conference on a motion declaring that “Zionism is racism.”
Motion A105 defines Zionism as a racist ideology. It argues that Zionism underpins what it describes as an apartheid system between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. The motion supports establishing “a single democratic Palestinian State in all of historic Palestine, with Jerusalem as its capital.” Such a model would effectively mean the elimination of the State of Israel.
In addition, the proposal calls for unbanning the activist group Palestine Action. It also backs the release of Palestinian prisoners, including Marwan Barghouti.
According to its backers, the motion could also lead to the proscription of members who identify as Zionists.
Green Party co-leader Zack Polanski signaled openness to the measure. Speaking to Times Radio, he said, “I’ll wait to hear the debate, but absolutely, if the definition of Zionism is what is happening right now by the Israeli government, then yes, absolutely, that’s racist and I’ll vote for it.” Polanski has repeatedly accused Israel of committing genocide.
The proposal was introduced by Lubna Speitan, a British-Palestinian party member affiliated with the Greens for Palestine Steering Group and the Greenwich Palestine Alliance. In a public statement, Speitan called Zionism “the ideological underpinning of an ethnonationalist Jewish State in historic Palestine, to the exclusion and domination of the non-Jewish population.”
Reviving a Discredited Antisemitic Libel With Real Consequences for British Jews
Jewish Greens urged members to reject the proposal. The group warned that the motion went far beyond policy criticism.
“This is not your run-of-the-mill motion opposing Israel’s actions (something that Jewish Greens would have no problem with), but something much more problematic that is likely to make Jews feel unwelcome in the Green Party,” the group said.
Moreover, Jewish Greens emphasized that many Jews understood Zionism as support for Jewish national self-determination. Therefore, labeling Zionism as racism risked stigmatizing Jewish identity itself.
The group also warned of what it described as the “authoritarian implication” of condemning Zionism while potentially proscribing those who identify with it. “Jewish members will be uniquely exposed to being accused of an offense which other party members will not be,” the statement read.
As a result, the group cautioned that the motion could force Jewish members to “choose between their party membership and being a member of their Jewish community.”
The Embassy of Israel in the UK sharply criticized the proposal. It described the motion as “so extreme, so hostile, and so intellectually bankrupt that its very inclusion on the agenda raises urgent questions about the direction of the party.”
In addition, the embassy warned that equating Zionism with racism revives language associated with UN General Assembly Resolution 3379. The UN adopted that resolution in 1975 and revoked it in 1991.
“By seeking to categorize Zionism as a form of racism, this motion attempts to revive the long-discredited and hateful equation once promoted by UN Resolution 3379,” the embassy stated. It called the discredited UN resolution “a moral stain on the international community” and any attempt to resurrect that narrative “a regressive and dangerous step.”
The Embassy of Israel expresses its profound concern and utter condemnation regarding the “Zionism is Racism” motion currently under consideration for the Green Party’s upcoming spring conference. a motion so extreme, so hostile, and so intellectually bankrupt that its very… pic.twitter.com/a01mLLMsuI
— Israel in the UK 🇮🇱🤝🇬🇧 (@IsraelinUK) February 24, 2026
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