Green Party conference adopts motion treating Zionism as racism, 1,022 votes to 813

Mixed · 3Members at the Green Party's annual conference in Brighton voted on Sunday 4 October 2026 by 1,022 votes to 813 for a motion titled "Zionism is racism". 1 2 3 Mixed · 3The motion says Zionism will be "treated as any other form of racism". It also supports a single Palestinian state with equal rights for all, which the Evening Standard and Jerusalem Post quote as a "single democratic Palestinian state in all of historic Palestine, with Jerusalem as its capital". 1 2 3 Mixed · 2The Guardian and Evening Standard say it is now party policy, and the Guardian specifies this is for the Greens in England and Wales. The Standard adds that the Greens do not require all their politicians to back it, and that it declares the party "anti-Zionist". 1 2

Left · 1The motion argues that Zionism is necessarily racist because it "privileges one ethnic group on the basis of the subjugation of others". It adds that it targets the ideology and not the background of Zionists, and that "not all Jews are Zionists and not all Zionists are Jews". 1 Mixed · 3Members rejected an amendment saying the motion should not be used to "pressure, proscribe or discipline" members over links to synagogues or other Jewish groups that describe themselves as Zionist. The Jerusalem Post gives the vote on this amendment as 684 in favour and 1,026 against. The Guardian says an amendment requiring other policies to be updated to reflect the motion passed, and that three others were voted down. 2 3 1 Mixed · 2The Evening Standard reports the vote as 56% to 44% and says only 1,835 members took part, though the party has more than 200,000 members. It says the party's earlier policy backed either a one-state or two-state solution if reached democratically. The Guardian says the motion was pushed by Greens for Palestine, which encouraged non-members to join so it would be debated; the Standard names the group as Greens 4 Palestine. 4 1

Mixed · 3Leader Zack Polanski, who is Jewish, did not vote. He had left the conference after his Friday speech to campaign in the Holborn and St Pancras by-election, to be held on Thursday. 2 1 3 Mixed · 3Polanski told the BBC that the motion defines Zionism as "the displacement and genocide of the Palestinian people" and that this is "clearly racism". The Evening Standard says he wanted an amendment on one Palestinian state with equal rights for Israelis and Palestinians, and that he supported amendments to soften the motion and protect Zionist Jewish members. Those amendments were rejected. The Jerusalem Post says he has failed to condemn the motion, and the Guardian reports unease among senior Greens that he could have taken a stronger stance. 1 4 3 Mixed · 2The Guardian and Evening Standard say four of the party's five MPs opposed the motion: Ellie Chowns, Siân Berry, and former co-leaders Adrian Ramsay and Carla Denyer, while the BBC counts three of five (Chowns, Ramsay and Denyer). The Guardian adds that Caroline Lucas, the former leader, also condemned it. Chowns said it "risks fuelling division", and Denyer said the wording "risks alienating a significant proportion of Jewish people". 5 6

Centre · 1The Standard and the BBC say the deputy leaders split, with Rachel Millward voting against (the BBC says she called the wording "problematic") and Mothin Ali in favour. 5 Mixed · 2Ali told Sky News, as quoted by the Daily Mail, that "the ultimate form of racism is genocide"; he told the BBC he was "absolutely not" calling all Jewish people who define themselves as Zionists racist, and that the motion calls for "a state that's democratic, that guarantees the rights of every single person living on that land". 5 6 Centre · 1The BBC says Polanski wanted the reference to a single Palestinian state changed, arguing that neither the Greens nor the British government should decide "what the future settlement looks like". It adds that the Green Party's rules make motions backed by members official policy, though not necessarily part of the next general election manifesto. 5

Mixed · 2The Mirror reports that Polanski, his deputies and the party's five MPs signed a statement saying "there is no conflict between supporting the rights of Palestinians and the rights of Jewish people"; the Daily Mail attributes the same statement to Green MPs. 7 6 Right · 1The Daily Mail quotes former Green deputy leader Shahrar Ali saying the policy makes the Greens "the first openly anti-Semitic party in the UK", and a Jewish Green member calling the motion "Hamas policy". It also says the motion passed with about a minute left in the session, after it ran out of time at the spring conference, and that two members had passes revoked on Saturday, including a Jewish Green who filmed a protester in a "Some people are Zionist—Get over it!" T-shirt; the Mail reports these as claims by members. 6 Mixed · 2Backers of the motion, quoted by the Mail, said "nobody will be removed, challenged, disciplined or suspended" for expressing a belief in Zionism, and a Green spokeswoman told the BBC Jewish members would not be persecuted for attending synagogues that define themselves as Zionist. 6 5

Centre · 1The chief executives of the Board of Deputies, the Community Security Trust and the Jewish Leadership Council had written to Green leaders before the conference. They said the motion would make the Greens the first electorally significant UK party to adopt "what appears to be an overtly antisemitic political platform", and that the leadership's failure to oppose it "shows a staggering indifference to the welfare of British Jews". 2 Right · 1Rabbi Charley Baginsky and Rabbi Josh Levy, co-leads of the Movement for Progressive Judaism, told the Jerusalem Post the motion is "antisemitic in its formulation and intention" and that they will challenge it. 3 Mixed · 2A poll by Jewish Greens found members split on whether to oppose the motion, with 81% not identifying as Zionist. The Jerusalem Post says the group's average score was 5.1 on a 0–10 scale and that it will take no official position. The Guardian says some Jewish Greens have privately said the policy could make it hard to stay in the party. 1 3

Centre · 1A Green Party spokesperson said it had been "a serious and deeply felt debate", that conference had made its decision, and that the party is anti-racist and opposes racism "in all its forms". 2 4 Right · 1The Jerusalem Post, citing the Mail on Sunday, reports that a "safe room" was set aside at the conference for Jewish members who felt in danger. It also says the motion was planned for the March spring conference but was delayed after no-confidence votes were submitted. 3