Politics · United Kingdom · 1 day ago
Green MP calls for safeguards against extremist influence in party
Green Party MP Ellie Chowns says the party needs safeguards against being influenced by extremists and racists.
Her warning follows a conference vote backing a motion that defines Zionism as racism and supports a single Palestinian state across historic Palestine, including present-day Israel.
The motion passed by 1,022 votes to 813, while the party has about 230,000 members.
Chowns said the policy did not reflect most party members and showed that the party’s policy-making system needed reform.
Jewish groups criticised the motion, while the party’s leader, Zack Polanski, said he would have voted against it in its current form.
The debate has also raised questions about whether the Greens’ member-led structures work as the party grows.
Chowns says the party should focus on Palestinian rights and ensure its policies reflect the views of most members.
Green Party MP Ellie Chowns says the party must ensure it is not vulnerable to capture by extremists and racists after members backed a motion defining Zionism as racism.
The motion became party policy after a vote at the Green Party of England and Wales conference.
Chowns called the policy significant and damaging and said the vote showed that the party’s policy-making structures were not working.
The motion also backs a single democratic Palestinian state in all of historic Palestine.
The decision has drawn criticism from Jewish groups and divided senior Green Party figures.
- Who
- Green Party MP Ellie Chowns has called for safeguards. Green Party members voted for the motion.
- What
- Members approved a motion defining Zionism as racism and backing a single democratic Palestinian state in all of historic Palestine.
- When
- The motion was approved at the party conference earlier this month. Chowns spoke on Saturday.
- Where
- At the Green Party of England and Wales conference.
- Why
- The motion was presented by activists and was described by Green Party member Ashok Kumar as being about Palestinian liberation.
Critics of the motion
Supporters of the motion
Meaning of Zionism
Critics of the motion
The Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Jewish Leadership Council say Zionism is anti-racism and provides a refuge for Jews in their ancient homeland.
Supporters of the motion
The motion defines Zionism as an ideology supporting an ethnonationalist Jewish state.
Policy on Palestine
Critics of the motion
Chowns called the motion significant and damaging, and said it did not represent the views of most Green members.
Supporters of the motion
The motion backs a single democratic Palestinian state in all of historic Palestine; supporter Ashok Kumar said it was about Palestinian liberation.
I want to make sure that my party isn't vulnerable to capture by extremists and racists.
I don’t think that policy, ‘Zionism is racism’, represents the large majority of Green party members, nor of people in the country,
Zionism is anti-racism, creating a refuge for Jews in their ancient homeland after millennia of persecution outside it.
Palestinian liberation
Green Party of England and Wales members approved the motion at the party conference.
Zack Polanski received just under 33% of the vote in the Holborn and St Pancras byelection.
Ellie Chowns told BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme that the party must guard against capture by extremists and racists.
- Motion vote
- 1,022 votes to 813
- Share of membership
- Approximately 0.4% voted on the motion
- Green Party membership
- 230,000 members overall
- Policy on Palestine
- A single democratic Palestinian state in all of historic Palestine
- Byelection result
- Zack Polanski received just under 33% in Holborn and St Pancras
Sources
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