Zack Polanski will not seek to repeal a Green Party of England and Wales motion describing Zionism as racism. However, the party leader says he wants to change the section dealing with the future of Israel and Palestine. Under his interpretation of party rules, that will not be possible until 2028.
Polanski set out his position in an interview with the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg on Sunday 18 October. According to the BBC and The Guardian, he rejected the description of the motion as controversial. He did not announce any attempt to overturn it, although it has divided the party.
The BBC reports that Green members passed the motion at their conference earlier in October. It defines Zionism as an ideology supporting an ethnonationalist Jewish state in historic Palestine through the exclusion or domination of non-Jewish people. This is the definition adopted in the party’s motion and represents its political position.
A change to the position on a single state
Polanski’s proposed amendment concerns the motion’s support for a one-state solution. He wants to replace that with a position that Israelis and Palestinians should decide their own future, and said he would seek the change at the first available opportunity.
He told the BBC that policy adopted at conference remains in place for two years, meaning a change would not be possible until 2028. That is his interpretation of the party’s rules, rather than the date of an agreed vote. Asked about changing the rules themselves, Polanski said he respected members’ democratic decision.
According to the BBC, the motion has drawn criticism from MPs, Jewish campaigners, the government and the European Green movement, among others. The leader’s comments on Sunday do not change its wording: for now, it remains the party’s adopted position. His announcement concerns a future attempt to amend it, not a change already backed by members.
