What We Know About the Green Party's Zionism Vote Fallout

Former Green Party co-leader Adrian Ramsay says the party is at a "crossroads" following a members' vote declaring Zionism a form of racism, telling the BBC's Newscast the party needs to refocus on its "core aims" and "core values," according to BBC News.

What did the motion actually say?

Members of the Green Party of England and Wales adopted the policy motion last month, defining Zionism as an ideology supporting "an ethnonationalist Jewish state" that led to the "disenfranchisement and destruction" of Palestinians, per the BBC report. The motion also backed creation of a "single democratic Palestinian state in all of historic Palestine" — language that includes the territory of modern-day Israel.

What does Adrian Ramsay say should happen now?

Ramsay, MP for Waveney Valley and a Green Party member since 1998, told Newscast that when asked directly whether he thinks Zionism is racist, his answer is "no, it's not." He said he agrees with current leader Zack Polanski that events in Gaza are "appalling," but added that he personally believes Israel has a right to exist — a position Polanski has not taken. Ramsay called himself "deeply uncomfortable" with the adopted motion and said there is "an opportunity to take some action in relation to the motion in the run-up" to the party's spring conference next year.

Ramsay framed the choice facing the party starkly: "One option is to sort of dig in more down this approach ... I think that there's a risk it brings with it — a quite divisive, a quite internally focused approach to politics." He attributed pressure for that approach to "small groups of people on the hard left of politics who go around different parties try to influence how those parties are run," and said he wants the party to be "consensus-building" and "very externally focused" to win over a majority of British voters on environmental policy.

How has Zack Polanski responded?

Polanski, who did not take part in or vote on the motion, said there is "no environmental justice without social, racial and economic justice," according to the BBC. He has separately said he would not have voted for the Zionism motion himself, the broadcaster reported on October 9.

What consequences has the vote triggered?

• Israel's foreign ministry has banned Polanski, who is Jewish, from entering the country.
• The Equality and Human Rights Commission wrote to the Green Party seeking more information after dozens of Labour and Liberal Democrat MPs and Jewish campaigners raised concerns.
• Labour said it would end local-council power-sharing agreements with the Greens unless Green councillors disowned the policy.

What happens next for the party?

Ramsay suggested the spring conference is the likely venue for any formal response or amendment to the motion, though no specific proposal has been announced. The BBC notes the EHRC inquiry and Labour's local-government ultimatum remain unresolved as of publication.

Glossary

• Zionism: A political movement supporting the existence of a Jewish state, defined in the Green motion as "an ethnonationalist Jewish state."
• EHRC: The Equality and Human Rights Commission, the UK statutory body that enforces equality law and has sought details on the motion.

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