UK Greens’ Zionism Vote Sparks Backlash

The UK Green Party voted at its conference to define Zionism as a form of racism, by 1,022 votes to 813, alongside policies supporting Palestinian liberation, the right of return, and the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement. The resolution also calls for a single democratic state across historic Palestine. It has drawn condemnation from Israeli officials and exposed divisions within the Green Party: four of its five MPs opposed parts of the motion. Deputy leader Rachel Millward said the term Zionism means different things to different people and questioned whether the policy would help the party’s work. Leader Zack Polanski, who is Jewish, said Zionism understood as the displacement of Palestinians is racist, but rejected the resolution’s reference to a single state and said outsiders should not determine the future state’s form. Israel banned Polanski from entering the country and accused the Greens of legitimising terrorism; President Isaac Herzog said the motion could endanger Jews and Israelis. The party rejected the equation of criticism of Israel with anti-Semitism and said Palestinian and Jewish rights are compatible. The article places the decision in historical context. In 1975, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution declaring Zionism a form of racism and racial discrimination, with support from 72 countries; Israel and 34 others voted against, while 32 abstained. The vote followed related statements at international forums and provoked sharp objections from Israel and the United States. In 1991, after US pressure, the General Assembly revoked the resolution by 111 votes to 25. The article also notes that Jewish Voice for Peace describes Zionism as producing a racist hierarchy and criticizes its founders’ ideology as colonial. In the UK, an employment tribunal in 2024 supported anti-Zionist activist and academic David Miller, who had been dismissed from the University of Bristol in 2021 after expressing views that Zionism was inherently racist.

The brief Al Jazeera Newsfeed item reports that the UK Green Party has voted to define Zionism as a form of racism. It also says Israel responded by “lashing out” and banning the party’s Jewish leader, Zack Polanski. The supplied text does not explain the wording or scope of the party’s vote, identify who made the decision to ban Polanski, or specify what the ban entails. It provides no quotes from the Green Party, Polanski, Israeli officials, or other people affected, and offers no background on the debate over Zionism or the circumstances surrounding the reported action. The item is dated 5 October 2026. The headline frames the party’s decision as a vote to define Zionism as “racism,” while the short description presents Israel’s response as a reaction to that vote. Since the provided material consists of only a headline and a one-sentence description, the report supports only this limited account; further details, explanations, and responses are not included. Its primary function is to alert readers to the reported vote and the stated response, rather than to provide a detailed analysis or an extended account of the dispute.

The France 24 item reports that Britain’s Green Party voted on Sunday to classify Zionism as a form of racism. The vote drew criticism from British Jews and from the Israeli government. The article says the Israeli government stated that it now viewed the party as “a body that gives legitimacy to terrorism.” The provided page identifies the item as a short video, issued on 5 October 2026, but supplies no further details about the vote, the arguments made by party members, the reactions’ specific sources, or any response from the Green Party. The summary is therefore limited to the accompanying description; the video itself is not included in the supplied text. The report presents the vote and the criticism it prompted without offering additional context or taking an explicit position.