UK Green Party's Zionism Resolution Sparks International Backlash and Internal Division

The United Kingdom's Green Party has formally adopted a resolution classifying Zionism as a form of racism, a move that has triggered sharp condemnation from the Israeli government while exposing significant fractures within the party's own ranks. The binding vote, held during the party's conference over the weekend, passed with 1,022 delegates in favour and 813 against, according to Al Jazeera.

Beyond the central definition, the resolution encompasses a broader platform of pro-Palestinian policies. The party reaffirmed its dedication to what it describes as Palestinian liberation and endorsed the creation of a single democratic state across historic Palestine. It also renewed its backing for the right of return for Palestinians and reiterated support for the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement targeting Israel.

In defending the resolution, the Green Party issued a statement characterising Zionism's practical impact in stark terms. It described what it called the "real, material manifestation of Zionism" as the historical and continuing dehumanisation, displacement, dispossession, disenfranchisement, and destruction of Palestinian people.

The decision has not been universally embraced within the party. Four of the party's five members of parliament opposed components of the resolution, a fact that underscores the depth of disagreement among Green leadership. Deputy leader Rachel Millward publicly voiced her reservations on social media, explaining that while the party remains committed to halting what she termed genocide, the word Zionism carries different meanings for different individuals. She stated that she personally did not believe the policy advanced the party's shared objectives.

Party leader Zack Polanski, who is Jewish, was absent from the conference while campaigning and addressed the vote afterward. He told journalists that if Zionism is understood as the displacement of Palestinians, then it is clearly racist. However, he also expressed disagreement with the resolution's call for a single Palestinian state, arguing that external parties should not determine the shape of any future statehood arrangement.

Israel's response was swift and severe. The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs posted on social media accusing the Greens of adopting not only the colour green associated with Hamas but also its ideology, which it described as the elimination of the State of Israel through armed struggle. The ministry's statement accused the party of legitimising terrorism, while senior Israeli officials drew a direct line between the resolution and anti-Semitism.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog weighed in, saying the move would deliberately endanger Jews and Israelis around the world. Opposition leader Yair Lapid characterised the party as racist. The Green Party has pushed back against the conflation of criticism of Israel with anti-Semitism, restating its opposition to all forms of discrimination or harassment. Polanski and other senior party figures issued a statement on Sunday asserting that there is no contradiction between supporting Palestinian rights and supporting Jewish rights.

The controversy has also had immediate diplomatic consequences for Polanski personally. On Monday, Israel banned the Green Party leader from entering the country, doing so just one day before he was scheduled to compete in a by-election in the London constituency previously represented by former Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

The historical backdrop to the Green Party's decision stretches back nearly five decades. In 1975, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution determining that Zionism is a form of racism and racial discrimination. That vote was sponsored by the Soviet bloc and the Arab League and passed with support from 72 countries, predominantly from the Middle East and Africa. Israel and 34 other nations, chiefly Western countries, voted against it, while 32 countries abstained. The following year, the UN body revoked the determination, though the episode remains a pivotal reference point in debates over Zionism's classification.

Zionism itself emerged as a political movement in the late 19th century, arising amid escalating anti-Semitism and persecution of Jewish communities across Europe. Theodore Herzl, an Austro-Hungarian journalist widely regarded as the father of political Zionism, initially proposed establishing an independent and colonial Jewish state in either Palestine or Argentina.

The Green Party's vote also follows a year in which Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat delivered his famous "olive branch" address to the UN General Assembly in 1974, a moment that elevated Palestinian statehood to greater international prominence. Around the same period, African nations resisting South Africa's apartheid regime were increasingly drawing parallels between that system of institutionalised racial separation and Israel's treatment of Palestinians, a comparison that would echo through subsequent UN deliberations.

The resolution places the UK Greens alongside a small but historically significant group of international bodies and political movements that have formally equated Zionism with racism. While the 1975 UN resolution was ultimately rescinded, the underlying debate has never fully disappeared from international discourse. The Green Party's decision thus taps into a decades-old argument that resurfaces periodically in global forums, often generating intense controversy and diplomatic friction.

For the Green Party itself, the resolution presents both ideological and practical challenges. Internally, the divide between the party's leadership and its parliamentary representatives raises questions about cohesion and messaging discipline. Externally, the Israeli government's decision to ban Polanski from entry illustrates how such symbolic votes can rapidly translate into tangible diplomatic repercussions for individual politicians and their parties.

The timing of the vote, occurring just before a closely watched by-election in a London constituency, adds a layer of electoral complexity. Polanski's campaign now unfolds against the backdrop of international headlines generated by his own party's conference, potentially influencing voter perceptions in a contest that carries significance beyond local boundaries.

As the party seeks to navigate the fallout, its leadership faces the task of reconciling the resolution's provisions with the objections raised by its own MPs and deputy leader. The coming weeks will likely determine whether the Green Party can present a unified front on this contentious issue or whether the internal divisions exposed by the vote will persist and deepen.