Greens Push Polanski on 'Zionism Is Racism' Motion Before Brighton Vote

Members of the Green Party in England and Wales are pressing leader Zack Polanski to state his position on a proposal to declare 'Zionism is racism' after it came top in a members' vote for debate at the conference in Brighton in early October. The Guardian

The party makes policy by member votes at conferences. As of 17 September 2026, Polanski had not spoken publicly about the motion.

The motion treats Zionism, the movement for a Jewish state in Israel, as racism. It calls for 'a single democratic Palestinian state in all of historic Palestine with Jerusalem as its capital, equal rights for all, and the right of return for Palestinians and their descendants.' Return here means displaced Palestinians and their descendants could come back. It says Palestinians have the full right to 'resistance and liberation from Israeli occupation, domination and subjugation' within international law. It says if passed, Zionism 'will be treated as any other form of racism' by the party.

Two amendments to tone down the motion have been tabled. The motion has not been adopted. It is listed for debate and vote under conference sovereignty, the rule that members decide, where passage would make it party policy.

The proposal is not new. A motion with the same title went to the spring conference but was never debated for lack of time. In June, procedural and technical difficulties delayed consideration but left open a return at the autumn conference. Listed as Motion A105, it speaks of Zionism's 'continued harm to Palestinians.' Jewish Chronicle via JPost

Greens for Palestine, a campaign group involving Green Party members, urged activists to back the motion. The Times The Jewish Greens urged members to vote against the motion at the Spring 2026 conference. Jewish Greens They published an interim briefing on the motion on 10 August 2026.

The autumn conference meets a week before voting in the Holborn and St Pancras byelection. Polanski is the Green candidate there, seeking to take Keir Starmer's former seat from Labour. Membership tripled under Polanski. He has previously called for 'nuance' when discussing antisemitism.

The broader context here is that the split is about process as well as substance. One side treats conference as the right place to vote on a single-state plan. The other treats the wording as exclusionary and unworkable as a disciplinary rule.

In my view, party rules give members the final word. A leader's direction does not override a passed motion. Silence keeps options open before debate but draws pressure from supporters and critics. A public stand could shape bargaining over amendments in Brighton. It could also shape how a rule treating Zionism as racism would apply to candidates, councillors and staff if adopted. Three things to watch are full or amended passage, any formal or informal leadership steer before the vote, and whether Brighton becomes a liability, a mobilising help, or a contained compromise in Holborn and St Pancras.