The Green Party of England and Wales has crossed a line: it has made antisemitism official party policy.
Today in Brighton, members voted by 1,022 to 813 to declare that “Zionism is racism.” They also endorsed a single Palestinian state across all of historic Palestine, replacing Israel.
But the most revealing vote concerned their own Jewish members.
An amendment would have explicitly protected members attending organisations that identify as Zionist- including synagogues and prayer groups- from being accused of racism simply for that affiliation.
It was defeated, by 1,026 votes to 684.
That means people could face disciplinary proceedings for attending a synagogue that identifies as Zionist.
To understand the significance, we also need to understand the history. “Zionism is racism” is an old political campaign with a very specific institutional legacy.
On November 10, 1975, the UN General Assembly adopted Resolution 3379, declaring Zionism a form of racism and racial discrimination. Arab governments and the Soviet bloc were central to the campaign that brought this equation into the UN’s machinery against racism. (
un.org,
history.state.gov)
It took sixteen years to reverse it.
On December 16, 1991, the General Assembly adopted Resolution 46/86, revoking that determination. Sixteen years during which the United Nations had given its authority to the proposition that Jewish national self-determination was inherently racist. (
un.org)
In 2026, a European party claiming to embody progressive values has revived that equation as its own policy.
It makes Jewish collective existence subject to a discriminatory test. National self-determination is defended as a right for Palestinians, while the Jewish movement for national self-determination is condemned as racism in itself.
For many British Jews, their connection to Israel runs through family relationships, synagogue life, education, youth movements, history and memory. The Green Party has adopted a definition that can turn those attachments into grounds for suspicion.
The UN took sixteen years to revoke this equation. The Greens have now brought it into their party’s rulebook of political acceptability.
Their European sister parties must decide whether their commitment to fighting antisemitism has consequences when the offender belongs to their own political family.
Condemnation should be the minimum.
@marinetondelier @EELV @GrueneBundestag