Green Party leader Zack Polanski has urged activists to soften a controversial policy proposal on Israel as he attempts to manage hardline pro-Palestinian voices within the party.
The motion, due to be debated at next week’s Green Party conference, is titled “Zionism is Racism” and calls for “a single democratic Palestinian state in all of historic Palestine with Jerusalem as its capital”.
Written by London-based artist Lubna Speitan, who has said Hamas should not be classified as a terrorist organisation, the proposal also urges the party to compare Israel with apartheid-era South Africa.
It calls for extensive boycotts and sanctions, arguing that “Zionism has created and seeks to maintain – and where possible – expand, an apartheid regime between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea”.
In a pamphlet supporting the motion, Ms Speitan demanded “an end to this racism and the monstrous State that has been built upon it”. She concluded with the slogan “Free Palestine, from the river to the sea”, a phrase critics have described as anti-Semitic.
Speaking this week, Mr Polanski indicated that he would not support the proposal in its present wording. He called it a “distraction” that “is not going to help” as he campaigns for election to the Commons in Holborn and St Pancras ahead of the conference.
“There’s a line in it that talks about a single Palestinian state. I think there’s something quite imperial about the British Government, or indeed the Green Party of England and Wales, deciding what the future settlement of Palestine and Israel should look like,” the party leader told a Zeteo UK event at London’s Barbican.
“My responsibility as leader of the Green Party, and the party’s responsibility, is to demand justice and equality for both Palestinians and Israelis.”
The Green Party motion calls for “a single democratic Palestinian State in all of historic Palestine with Jerusalem as its capital”
The accompanying pamphlet by Lubna Speitan calls for an end to “this racism and the monstrous State that has been built upon it”
Mr Polanski also said the motion should offer stronger protection to Jews who criticise Israel. “As a Jewish person who has shown solidarity with the Palestinian people, I would hope that our Green Party conference also shows solidarity with Jewish people.
“Within the motion, there needs to be a clear and explicit statement that Jewish people are protected. If someone opposes the occupation, apartheid or genocide, but belongs to a synagogue that describes itself as Zionist, they should not be treated differently within the Green Party.
“This must not become an exercise in identifying Jewish people or creating an additional barrier they have to cross in order to be members of the Green Party.”
The motion, submitted by Ms Speitan with backing from Greens for Palestine, claims Zionism has contributed to the “historic and ongoing dehumanisation, displacement, dispossession, disenfranchisement and destruction of Palestinians” through what it describes as European settler-colonial systems of power and oppression.
It states: “Rejecting Zionism and supporting the liberation of the Palestinian people is not discriminatory against Jewish people.
“Nor is it discriminatory to support the creation of a single democratic Palestinian State between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, with equal rights for all.
“Zionism is fundamentally incompatible with anti-racist principles, equality and justice.”
The proposal would commit the Greens to becoming an anti-Zionist party and supporting “the establishment of 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”.
It also advocates “broad boycotts and … divestment initiatives against Israel similar to those applied to South Africa in the apartheid era”, with support from the UK Government. Ministers imposed sanctions last week over Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
A comparable attempt to alter Green Party policy was made at its spring conference, where it received backing from deputy leader Mothin Ali.
But it failed to pass after Green members opposed to it managed to time-out the process at an event also marred by factional infighting and technical problems.
