European Greens condemn UK Green Party’s ‘Zionism is Racism’ motion

The Green Party of England and Wales is facing serious backlash after party members voted to approve a motion declaring "Zionism is Racism;" the motion also included a rejection of the two-state solution and committed the Green Party to establishing "a single Palestinian state in all of historic Palestine."

The motion commits the party to totally rejecting Zionism as fundamentally racist. It also commits the party to supporting Palestinian armed struggle "to achieve that liberation by all available means" as well as committing the party to supporting the establishment of a single democratic Palestinian state in all of historic Palestine with Jerusalem as its capital.

While the party expected to face backlash from the Jewish community and Israel, it has received significantly stronger backlash from the European Green Party (EGP).

The EGP published its position on the controversial motion on Monday, in which it firmly rejected the motion. In it, the EGP states that the movement has always supported a two-state solution with self-determination for both Israelis and Palestinians.

"The resolution 'Zionism is Racism' as voted yesterday goes against our agreed positions of the EGP and its Member Parties, therefore as EGP we unequivocally distance ourselves from it," the EGP said.

They tied the rejection to the upswing in antisemitism in Europe, saying, "It is of utmost importance to be absolutely unambiguous on this: Jewish people must be able to live free from discrimination and violence."

The EGP demanded that the UK Greens clarify the position and issue official party policy that shows support for Israeli self-determination and the protection of Jewish people within the party and in society.

The EGP was not the only one to weigh in. The chair of Amnesty International's UK branch, Sandy Ruthven, announced his resignation from the party over the motion, saying that the party had "In seeking to court the hard-left vote, we have failed to confront prejudice when it appears on our own side."

Ruthven was not the only Green politician to resign from the party over the motion, Waterloo Green councillor Kieran Dams resigned after receiving "hundreds of abusive and threatening messages," which have been reported to police.

More than a dozen Labour MPs have also reported the Green Party to the police over events at the conference, The Spectator reported.

The move was reportedly led by MP Mike Tapp and is calling for police to investigate whether the party members had crossed the line into "criminally actionable racial or religious hatred against Jewish people."

Party members reportedly chanted, "say it loud, say it clear, Zionists are not welcome here," which could be interpreted as using ‘Zionists’ as a proxy for Jewish people.