UK Green Party sparks controversy by defining Zionism as racism

The UK Green Party has formally adopted a definition of Zionism as a form of racism, a move that immediately drew condemnation from the Israeli government and triggered mixed reactions within the party's own ranks.

According to the binding vote held at the party conference over the weekend, members approved the new definition along with a series of policies seen as strongly pro-Palestinian. The resolution not only attracted international criticism but also exposed internal divisions, with four of the party's five MPs opposing it.

On Monday, Israel barred Green Party leader Zack Polanski from entering the country, just one day before he was due to take part in a by-election in a London constituency once represented by former Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

What does the resolution include?

The Green Party passed the motion equating Zionism with racism by 1,022 votes to 813. The party also reaffirmed its "commitment to Palestinian liberation" and called for "the establishment of a single democratic state across the whole of historic Palestine."

The party also recommitted to supporting the right of return for Palestinians as well as the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement targeting Israel.

In a statement, the Green Party said: "The concrete, practical manifestation of Zionism is the dehumanisation, displacement, dispossession, disenfranchisement and destruction of Palestinians, historically and today."

However, a significant number of party members, including four of the five MPs, opposed part of the resolution, laying bare internal fractures. Deputy leader Rachel Millward wrote on X that while the party was committed to "ending genocide," the term Zionism carries "different meanings to different people," so she personally did not believe the policy helped the party's shared work.

Meanwhile, Polanski — who is Jewish and missed the vote because he was campaigning — told reporters afterwards that if Zionism means the displacement of Palestinians, then "that is clearly racism." He did not, however, support the reference to a single Palestinian state and said outside forces should not decide the future of that state.

How did Israel react?

Israel accused the Green Party of legitimising "terrorism," while senior officials equated the move with antisemitism. Israel's Foreign Ministry wrote on social media: "The Green Party has not only donned the green of Hamas but also its ideology: wiping out the State of Israel through armed struggle."

Israeli President Isaac Herzog said the move would "deliberately endanger Jews and Israelis everywhere." Opposition leader Yair Lapid called the Green Party "racist."

The Green Party rejected the equation of criticism of Israel with antisemitism and reaffirmed its opposition to "all forms of discrimination or harassment." In a statement on Sunday, Polanski and senior party leaders said: "We know there is no conflict between supporting the rights of Palestinians and the rights of Jewish people."

Has Zionism been equated with racism before?

Yes. In 1975, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution "determining that Zionism is a form of racism and racial discrimination." The resolution, sponsored by the Soviet bloc and the Arab League, passed with 72 countries — mainly in the Middle East and Africa — voting in favour. Israel and 34 other countries, mostly Western, voted against, while 32 others abstained.

Just a year earlier, at the 1974 General Assembly, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat delivered his famous "olive branch" speech. At the same time, African states opposing apartheid in South Africa — which was increasingly allied with Israel — separately concluded that the Israeli government was "racist" and that both shared "imperial origins."

Also in 1975, at the first international women's conference in Mexico City, participants determined that there could be no international peace without "the elimination of foreign occupation, Zionism, apartheid" and all other forms of "racial discrimination."

The General Assembly vote, however, was highly controversial. Chaim Herzog, then Israel's ambassador to the UN and later president, told the assembly the resolution was "based on hatred, falsehood and arrogance," then tore up a copy of it in front of the audience. The US also accused the UN of turning "antisemitism into international law."

In December 1991, under President George HW Bush, the US pushed hard for the resolution's repeal. Bush declared at the UN that equating Zionism with racism "is to deny Israel itself" and "challenges the very existence of the state." Israel also said it would not take part in the Madrid Peace Process unless the resolution was revoked. Under heavy US pressure, an overwhelming majority of countries voted to repeal the resolution by 111 to 25, including European and African nations.

Who else equates Zionism with racism?

Jewish Voice for Peace, a group of American Jews that campaigns against Zionism and in support of Palestine, also calls Zionism a movement that created a "racial hierarchy with European Jews at the top." In a statement in February, the group reaffirmed its opposition to what it calls the "colonial ideology" of Zionism's founders.

Similarly, in the UK, an employment tribunal in 2024 ruled in favour of anti-Zionist activist Professor David Miller, who was fired by the University of Bristol in 2021 over his view that the movement is "inherently racist."