UK Green Party: Are the British Greens falling apart over the issue of Israel?

Things have been going well for the British Green Party recently. More and more voters saw them as a real alternative to the Labor government. The number of members increased rapidly.

The upturn was also evident in the local elections in May: the Greens won hundreds of seats. But then came the party conference at the beginning of October - and with it a controversy that even Prime Minister Andy Burnham commented on. The completely wrong decision was made at the party conference. It is a terrible misjudgment by the Greens.

Green Party sets itself on an anti-Zionist course

The criticism was sparked by a motion that was accepted there and officially sets the party on an anti-Zionist course. Zionism, the document says, should be treated like any other form of racism.

The application was submitted by the Palestinian-British artist and activist Lubna Speitan. According to media reports, she is said to have joined the Green Party specifically for this purpose. “This is not intended to be an attack on Jewish people as members of their religion,” said Speitan. “It is a statement against a racist and genocidal ideology of settler colonization.”

Concern for Jewish self-determination

The resolution defines Zionism as an ethno-nationalist, political project - and anti-Zionism is not anti-Semitic. Vivien Lichtenstein, chairwoman of the party's internal Jewish Greens, is bothered by this. “Depending on the definition, I describe myself as a Zionist or anti-Zionist,” she explains. "That's the problem with the term: there are many definitions."

She fears that Jewish self-determination could be delegitimized if Zionism is generally classified as racism. This could also affect people who support Israel's existence as a Jewish state.

In addition, the resolution states that the Green Party is in favor of the one-state solution - which critics read as the abolition of Israel. Lichtenstein himself is now considering leaving the party. The remaining Jewish members were divided: "Some supported this motion in its entirety, many of us supported individual aspects, some were firmly against it."

Party leadership disagrees

The leadership team is also divided. A deputy party leader supported the motion, his co-deputy rejected it. Four of the five Green MPs also spoke out publicly against it.

Party leader Zack Polanski, who is Jewish himself, did not even take part in the vote. Instead, he campaigned doorstep. Many critics are now accusing him of this - he, who had previously helped the party gain greater visibility with his pointed political style.

If so, he would have voted against the motion, Polanski said on BBC radio. Because it is not the Greens who have to decide on the one-state solution, but the people in Israel and Palestine. As the party leader emphasized, Israelis and Palestinians should have the same rights. But he did not completely distance himself from the decision. Jewish organizations criticize him heavily.

Anti-Semitism in the party?

Now many political observers are asking how the party will deal with accusations of anti-Semitism and whether there are anti-Semitic attitudes within its ranks. Lichtenstein believes "there are certainly some anti-Semites in the party - I don't know whether that is also the case in the leadership ranks." In any case, that doesn't correspond to her experience.

Meanwhile, the British Equality Authority has also intervened and asked the party for further information about the application after receiving complaints about possible breaches of the British Equality Act - including from MPs from other parties. There are also concerns that Jewish members could be discriminated against because of their beliefs.

Labor is currently ahead in the polls. Under Andy Burnham, the party is winning back lost left-wing voters - and is thus increasingly competing with the Greens. Just a few months ago, the Greens were seen as a serious alternative to Labor. Now they are threatened with a dispute over direction. Because of a decision that, by the way, not even one percent of all members voted on at this party conference.