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Greens define Zionism as racism

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British Green MP Ellie Chowns called for safeguards against extremist and racist influence after members approved a motion defining Zionism as racism, opposed by four of the party’s five MPs.

by Matthew Goodwin

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The Guardian
Greens must avoid ‘capture by extremists and racists’, says party MP

Ellie Chowns says vote for ‘Zionism is racism’ policy by 0. 4% of members shows party processes are not working A Green Party MP has said she wants to make sure her party is not “vulnerable to capture by extremists and racists” amid the continuing fallout from the “Zionism is racism” vote. The party faces a political maelstrom over its policy decision last week to treat Zionism, the movement for a Jewish state, as any other form of racism, and to back a single Palestinian state over a two-state solution. The motion was passed at the annual party conference with just over 1, 000 votes, approximately 0. 4% of the total membership. Continue reading. . .

Greens must avoid ‘capture by extremists and racists’, says party MP
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Reposted by Alex Callinicos

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Reposted by Alex Callinicos

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Kathimerini
Is Zionism a form of racism?

The British Greens recently voted in favor of the proposal to regard Zionism as a form of racism. Four of the party's five MPs disagreed. European Greens expressed reservations or objections. The controversial decision, besides being politically divisive, highlights the lack of thoughtful filters that characterize direct-democracy processes: according to the report, the proposal was backed primarily by party members ...

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Reposted by Patrick Dunleavy

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by Judea Pearl

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by Mark Edele

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edelemark.bsky.social
The Greens — completely unelectable. “Shoebridge’s stated policy of giving Ukraine military support only if it was backed by the United Nations Security Council is, given the obvious fact that Russia as a permanent member would veto it, a ridiculous policy.”

www.theage.com.au/politics/fed...
Extremism is all the rage. But there’s a moment that will truly test Shoebridge and Hanson
You don’t need to peer too far back into the past to be reminded how public sentiment can rearrange itself once an election is called.
www.theage.com.au
October 9, 2026 at 9:44 PM

Reposted by Matthew Søberg Shugart

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by Alan Sked

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by Madawi Al‐Rasheed

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by Sara Hirschhorn

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danielsugarman.bsky.social
After the Green Party's "Zionism is Racism" vote, the Leader of Haringey Council, controlled by the Greens, wrote to some Synagogues in the borough to "reassure" them.

I want to show you Highgate Synagogue's reply. I believe it is worth reading in its entirety.

www.jewishnews.co.uk/synagogue-re...
Dear Mark Thank you for your emails to us. We take it from both the tone and the content of your email that you are deeply embarrassed with the decision taken by your party to not only brand Zionism as racism but to call for the eradication by any means necessary including violence, of the only Jewish state, the only practising democracy in the Middle East, and also home to half of the world’s Jewish population. We are not surprised you are embarrassed. The policy decision which has not just been endorsed by but was publicly celebrated by the Haringey branch of the Green Party, of which we assume you are a member, is thus aligning itself with Hamas, a genocidal, homophobic and misogynistic Islamist terrorist organisation not only responsible for the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, but countless murders and torture of its own people. You may not be aware that members of our synagogue have close relatives and friends who perished in that pogrom - of which today is the third anniversary - not to mention other horrendous terrorist atrocities carried out in the name of the resistance that your party supports. We also adopted Emily Damari, a British Israeli hostage who was kidnapped by Hamas from her home at Kibbutz Kfar Aza, suffered terribly at the hands of her Hamas jailers and had to keep her sexual orientation secret from her kidnappers or else would have been murdered, along with 87 others including the Bibas children, four year old Arieh and nine month old Kfir who were killed in cold blood for the sole crime of being Jewish children born in their ancestral homeland. Our synagogue along with the majority of British synagogues recites weekly Sabbath prayers for both the Royal Family of the United Kingdom and the State of Israel and will continue to do so, irrespective of what you or other Green Party members think. Love of Zion and a hope to be able to return to live in our ancestral homeland is integral to all streams of Judaism, as, it so happens, Earlier this year we hosted at Highgate Synagogue a noted Palestinian campaigner Ahmed Fouad AlKhatib who lost more than 30 family members in Gaza. He told a packed synagogue - and it was really packed -- how he as a Gazan and a Palestinian believed that Hamas had brought nothing but disaster on the Palestinian people, and that those keffiyeh wearing sympathizers in the West who cheer for Hamas are doing more harm than good. He was no shill for Israel or its Prime Minister, but he at least acknowledged the attachment of Jews to this land, and the fact that non-Jews in Israel have rights that no-one, certainly not Jews or Christians, let alone Muslims can aspire to anywhere else in the Middle East. So no, we don’t accept your assurances that we are safe under your watch. You may see no connection between the ceaseless vilification of Israel, the blood libels that you and your party regularly trot out, and the hostility to Jews in this country, but we do. If this motion does not mean that Jews in Haringey who have family or friends in Israel, or who attend our synagogue, or who maybe aren’t religious but believe that there is a place for a haven for the tattered remnant of the most persecuted race on earth, are considered by you and your party as racists and by implication fair game for ostracism, intimidation, violence or worse, please explain to us what else it means. And if that is indeed what it means, and we are pretty sure that those who voted for it believe that is precisely what it means, how can we as Jews feel safe when the largest party of the borough we live in, entirely peacefully up to now, publicly align yourself with the most virulent jew-hating racists of all, Hamas and the Nazis. As it is, despite living in one of the most peaceful and crime free parts of the borough, we have had as a synagogue to invest substantial sums in building terrorism-proof fences round our premises, and employ both volunteers and professional security with stab vests to en So your embarrassment is not enough. If you really want us to feel you do not agree with the racist and genocidal implications of your party’s policy, the least we can expect is for you to publicly resile yourself from that policy and commit yourself and your party colleagues to reverse that policy and to educate themselves about the realities of the Middle East conflict, and about Jewish life, before you pronounce on these matters with such unshakeable certainty again. Yours sincerely,
October 9, 2026 at 3:59 PM

Reposted by Ruud Koopmans, Lucinda Platt, Ben H. Ansell , and 3 more

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Reposted by Geoffrey M. Hodgson

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by Jonathan Portes

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jdportes.bsky.social
but that's not really the issue here on UK bluesky is it? Who's saying "it isn't genocide anyway"? Nobody in the replies to me.
October 9, 2026 at 2:52 PM

Reposted by Tariq Modood

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by David Bartram

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dbartram.bsky.social
Polanski said he couldn't focus on the "Zionism is racism" motion b/c he had to focus on campaigning.

But in abdicating his leadership role he undermined his Holborn prospects *and* his claim on the leadership role.

I don't think this guy is meant for politics.

www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Leader of Jewish Greens calls for Zack Polanski to resign after byelection loss
Vivien Lichtenstein urges party leader to quit over ‘Zionism is racism’ policy – but could face no-confidence motion herself
www.theguardian.com
October 9, 2026 at 2:15 PM

Reposted by Geoffrey M. Hodgson

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by Jem Bendell

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