# Tell The Greens: Zionism Is Not Racism > On 9 October 2026 Green leader Zack Polanski lost the Holborn and St Pancras by-election, five days after his party declared that Zionism is racism. Green councillors now face a choice about their political future. Ask yours where they stand. Site: https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/ Publisher: Zionism Is Not Racism Motion passed: 4 October 2026 Vote: At its autumn conference at the Brighton Centre, the Green Party of England and Wales passed the "Zionism is Racism" motion by 1,022 votes to 813. The motion declares the Greens an anti-Zionist party. Zack Polanski, the party's leader, skipped the vote. Source: Jewish Telegraphic Agency, https://www.jta.org/2026/10/04/israel/britains-green-party-adopts-zionism-is-racism-motion ## What happened On 4 October 2026 the Green Party of England and Wales voted to declare that "Zionism is racism". Zionism is simply the belief that Jewish people, like the French, the Irish or the Palestinians, have the right to a homeland of their own. Is that racist? No. I am a Zionist, so the Green Party says I am a racist. Zionism Is Not Racism. Green councillors now face a choice about their political future. In two lines: "You can't be anti-racist and antisemitic." "Zionism is anti-racism." ## What has happened since - 7 October 2026: The Green Party is referred to the Equality and Human Rights Commission over the motion. The Campaign Against Antisemitism referred the Green Party to the Equality and Human Rights Commission, asking it to investigate whether the party has discriminated against Jewish members contrary to the Equality Act 2010. Seventeen Labour MPs wrote to the Commission's chair asking it to consider whether the party has broken the law. Source: Campaign Against Antisemitism, https://antisemitism.org/caa-refers-green-party-to-ehrc-over-zionism-is-racism-motion; also Jewish News, https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/green-party-reported-to-ehrc-over-zionism-is-racism-motion/. - 9 October 2026: Zack Polanski loses the Holborn and St Pancras by-election. Green Party leader Zack Polanski lost the Holborn and St Pancras by-election, five days after his party declared that Zionism is racism. Labour's Sagal Abdi-Wali won with 12,292 votes to his 8,928. Source: HuffPost UK, https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/labour-greens-tby-election-zack-polanski_uk_6ac77b9de4b01d1704f7bb62. - 12 October 2026: Activists behind the motion plot to have Caroline Lucas thrown out of the party. The Telegraph reported WhatsApp messages in which members of Greens for Palestine, the group behind the motion, shared advice on complaining to the party's disciplinary panel about Caroline Lucas, the party's first MP and twice its leader, who had called the motion "dangerous", "divisive" and "flawed from top to bottom". "Lucas needs to be removed," one wrote. A template letter of complaint has been created, the paper reported. Source: The Telegraph, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2026/10/12/pro-palestine-greens-plot-to-banish-toxic-caroline-lucas/. - 13 October 2026: The Greens take back a councillor suspended for sharing an antisemitic video. Nine days after the vote, the Green Party lifted the suspension of Mohammed Suleman, Newcastle city councillor for Arthur's Hill, suspended before May's elections for reposting a TikTok video that described Jews as "ungrateful, merciless, and without love". The Newcastle Green group said he "knows he has been in the wrong". His return makes the Greens the second-largest party on Newcastle City Council, with 24 councillors. Source: The Jewish Weekly, https://thejewishweekly.com/green-party-antisemitism-row. ## The Green councillor accountability register (https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/the-partys-over) Every Green Party of England and Wales councillor now faces a choice: reverse the motion or resign. The register records where each one stands, from this site's own records only: 47 put their names to the motion as supporters; 6 have signed the pledge that Zionism is not racism; 2 have left the party over the motion; 1268 have no public position recorded. No anonymous claims and no invented positions: a councillor is on the record only for a published list, a signed pledge or a public resignation. The questions put to every Green councillor: Do you support Motion A105? Will you publicly call for it to be reversed? Will you resign if the party keeps it? The letter supporters post is headed "Zionism is NOT Racism": reverse Motion A105 (https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/letter). ## What the Green Party has said in reply, and why it does not stand up (https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/#their-reply) The Green Party of England and Wales, replying by email to supporters of this campaign, October 2026. The reply does not say that Zionism is not racism. It does not say the motion is wrong. It does not dispute a line of it. It does not say it will be reversed. - The party says: "The motion is a statement of the Party's position, it doesn't make any changes to our code of conduct or our guidance on antisemitism." It changes both. The motion says so. Page 6 of the motion: "Zionism, as defined above, will be treated as any other form of racism, and this motion will be implemented by the Anti-Racism Policy Working Group as appropriate and in accordance with its ordinary practice." That is an instruction to the party's anti-racism machinery, not a statement of opinion. Racism already breaks the party's code of conduct. A motion that declares a new form of racism changes what the code catches, whether or not a word of the code is rewritten. The same motion rejects the IHRA and JDA definitions of antisemitism as "weaponised" (page 4). Those are the definitions used by the UK government, the police and the Crown Prosecution Service. A party that drops every accepted definition of antisemitism has changed its guidance on antisemitism. - The party says: "Anything that didn't break the code of conduct on Saturday, still [does] not break the code of conduct today. Members won't be discriminated against or disciplined because of their beliefs, including protected beliefs." Then the motion means nothing, and the party can withdraw it today. It cannot be both. A policy that treats Zionism "as any other form of racism" and a promise that no Zionist will ever be treated as a racist cannot both be true. One of them is not. The reply concedes, in passing, that Zionism is a protected belief. That is the point. Declaring a protected belief to be racism, as party policy, is what the Equality and Human Rights Commission has been asked to investigate. Discipline is not the only harm, either. A Jewish member who wants to stand as a candidate, chair a local party or sit on a committee now does so in a party whose policy calls their belief racism and which has committed itself to "explicitly opposing Zionism in our internal and external communications going forward" (page 6). - The party says: "We want to reassure you our Jewish members are safe and welcome in the Party as before." "As before" is the problem. Before, the party had not declared the belief of around nine in ten British Jews to be racism. Jewish members are welcome on one condition: that they accept being called racists by their own party's policy. 2 councillors have already left the party over it. Four of the party's five MPs have rejected the motion in public. The party has been referred to the Equality and Human Rights Commission over it. A reassurance that changes nothing is not a reassurance. - The party says: "You suggest reversing this motion. Our policy is voted on by members, and as a completely democratic organisation we cannot immediately reverse a motion which conference has voted to pass." A party that can vote a motion in can vote it out. Conference meets twice a year and can rescind what it passed. "Cannot" means "will not". Nobody is asking the leadership to overrule a vote. We are asking it to say in public that the motion is wrong, as four of its five MPs have, and to bring the vote that reverses it. A members' vote is no defence in law. The Equality Act 2010 binds a political party whatever its members vote for, and the Equality and Human Rights Commission's guidance for parties says so. The United Nations voted that "Zionism is racism" in 1975 and voted to revoke it in 1991. Votes can be reversed. That is what a vote is. - The party says: "The Party and Leadership are aware of the strength of peoples views on this motion and we will be doing everything we can to make sure all our members, including our Jewish members, feel safe and secure in the Party." Everything except the one thing that would do it. The reply offers Jewish members a feeling of safety while keeping the policy that calls them racists. It does not say that Zionism is not racism. It does not say the motion is wrong. It does not dispute a line of it. Five days after the motion passed, Zack Polanski lost the Holborn and St Pancras by-election. The voters have given their answer. The party has yet to give its own. ## What Zionism is Zionism is the belief that the Jewish people have the right to live as a nation in the Jewish homeland, where Jews have lived continuously for approximately 4,000 years. That is not racism. It is national self-determination, the same right every other people claims in its historic homeland. French people have the right to a homeland in France. Is that racist? No. Simple. You can fiercely criticise any Israeli government and still be a Zionist, just as you can criticise the French government while believing France is the homeland of the French. Neither is racist. ## What racism is Racism is treating people worse because of their race, ethnicity or national origin, or holding one group to a standard that is applied to no one else. UK law recognises Jewish people as an ethnic group protected by the Equality Act 2010. ## Why calling Zionism racism is antisemitism There are nearly 200 countries. Dozens have a majority religion and 43 have an official one. Israel was founded by a United Nations resolution and admitted to the UN in 1949; many countries have far less to show for their founding. Nobody calls any of them racist for existing. If believing in a Jewish homeland is racist, then believing in a Palestinian homeland is racist too. Nobody says that. Only Jews are told it. Picking out Jews, and only Jews, for a rule applied to no one else is racism. That is what the motion does. The United Nations said "Zionism is racism" in 1975 and took it back in 1991. The Green Party has brought it back. Zionism is not racism. By singling out the Jews, the Greens have become racist. ## Zionism is not colonialism, and Israel has a right to exist The Jews had no mother country. Colonialism is a mother country planting settlers abroad. The Jews had none. Conquered and expelled from Judea by Rome, ruled there by one empire after another, persecuted wherever they were scattered, they came back to the land where they became a people and have lived for approximately 4,000 years. Half of Israel's Jews descend from the 850,000 driven out of Arab and Muslim countries after 1948. Nobody sent them. Nowhere else would have them. "Settler colony" means "should not exist". Israel was created by United Nations resolution 181 in 1947 and has been a member of the UN since 1949. Dozens of states were drawn in the same decade. Only this one is called a colony to be undone. One in five Israelis is Arab, votes, and sits in the Knesset and on the Supreme Court. Criticise any Israeli government, as Israelis do. Denying the state is different: it denies Jews what every other people has. Israel has a right to exist. Nearly half the world's Jews live there. "No right to exist" means "no right to a country": stateless again, as in the 1930s, when the doors of the world were shut. What Greens For Palestine is saying. The motion commits the party to "a single democratic Palestinian State in all of historic Palestine". That is Israel's abolition. Greens For Palestine says it plainly: "It's time to build an Anti-Zionist Green Party" (Greens For Palestine on Instagram, 3 July 2026, over a map in the Palestinian flag from Haifa to Beersheba that leaves no Israel at all) "The settler colony in occupied Palestine ... the Western world's only major Anti-Zionist party" (Greens For Palestine, 6 October 2026, after Israel barred Zack Polanski from entering the country) That is not a view about Israeli policy. It is a view about whether Jews may have a country at all. Sources: The map and the call to build an anti-Zionist party, 3 July 2026: https://www.instagram.com/p/DaU5pDhKxVb/ The statement of 6 October 2026: https://www.instagram.com/p/DeKK4E0K38I/ ## What the motion's own backers say it means The motion, A105, is not a one-line slogan. It declares the Green Party "an anti-Zionist party". It supports "a single democratic Palestinian State in all of historic Palestine", which means no Israel, and so rejects the two-state solution backed by the United Nations, the UK, the EU, the Arab League and the Palestinian Authority. It affirms Palestinian "struggle ... by all available means", and its own briefing paper spells that out as "including armed struggle". It calls Marwan Barghouti, convicted of five murders, merely a "prisoner of conscience". And it calls for Palestine Action to be taken off the terrorism list. The Greens support proscribed terrorists. Then it turns inward. Zionism is to be "treated as any other form of racism". So, anyone who believes Israel should exist is to be handled as a racist. ## What the law says The Equality Act 2010 protects people from discrimination, harassment and victimisation because of race, religion or belief. Jews are protected as an ethnic group, and Zionism, as a belief held by most British Jews, is capable of protection as a philosophical belief. The Equality and Human Rights Commission's 2020 guidance for political parties is plain: a party must not discriminate against, harass or victimise its members, associates, guests or those seeking membership because of a protected characteristic, including race, religion and belief. A party that declares the core belief of most British Jews to be racism, and treats those who hold it as racists, contravenes the Equality Act and the Commission's guidance. The motion is not only wrong. It is unlawful. ## What the motion itself says (Motion A105, in brief) - Declares the Green Party "an anti-Zionist party": a mainstream British party formally opposed to the core belief of most British Jews. - Supports "a single democratic Palestinian State in all of historic Palestine", which means the end of Israel as a state. That rejects the two-state solution backed by the UN, the UK, the EU, the Arab League and the Palestinian Authority. - Affirms Palestinian "struggle ... by all available means" and, in its own briefing paper, spells that out as "including armed struggle". - Orders that Zionism "be treated as any other form of racism" by the party's Anti-Racism Policy Working Group: Jewish members who believe Israel should exist are to be handled as racists. - Calls Marwan Barghouti, convicted of five murders, merely a "prisoner of conscience". - Supports a proscribed terrorist organisation: it calls for Palestine Action, banned by Parliament under the Terrorism Act 2000, to be taken off the list. - Argues in its briefing paper that the word "antisemitism" is a "misnomer" that should be dropped, and that the definitions used by the UK Government and most councils are "weaponry". ## What we are asking Ask them to choose. One polite email to a dozen Green councillors, with Green Party head office in copy, asking each councillor to join the four Green MPs in speaking out against Motion A105, to call publicly for it to be reversed or to resign, and to say which on the record. It takes two minutes, it goes from your own email, and every one is counted. Then share this page so others can do the same. ## Key facts - Jews have lived continuously in the land of Israel for approximately 4,000 years. - Nearly 200 countries; 43 have an official state religion; none is called racist for existing. Israel is the one Jewish state. - The UN General Assembly declared "Zionism is racism" in 1975 (Resolution 3379) and repealed it in 1991. - The IHRA working definition of antisemitism, adopted by the UK Government, names "claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor" as an example of antisemitism. - The Equality Act 2010 protects Jews as an ethnic group and protects religion and belief. ## Pages - [Home](https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/): the campaign page. The main ask: one email to a dozen Green councillors asking each to sign the pledge, with head office in copy - [See who has signed](https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/pledge): the Green councillors' pledge that Zionism is not racism and the party got Motion A105 wrong; the list of who has signed or resigned, and the sign-in for councillors (council email, one-time code, no password). One line of the pledge is enough to sign - [The motion, line by line](https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/the-motion): Motion A105 quoted clause by clause with our response to each - [The Green councillor accountability register](https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/the-partys-over): every Green councillor's position on the motion, the referral of the party to the Equality and Human Rights Commission and Zack Polanski's by-election defeat - [These councillors say Zionism is racism](https://zionismisracism.co.uk/): the Green councillors who backed the racist motion, named as supporters, with councils and wards. Each has a page of their own at https://zionismisracism.co.uk/first-last with an email addressed to them - [Every councillor and MP in England and Wales](https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/councils): every party, by region (https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/regions/), county (https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/counties/) council (https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/councils/) and ward (https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/councils//). Each councillor has a page at https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/councillor/- and each MP at https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/mp/-, giving their party, seat and whether they have endorsed the campaign that Zionism is not racism (Green councillors keep their pages below). Every MP: https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/mps. Search any name, ward, council or constituency: https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/search?q= - [Every Green Party councillor in England and Wales](https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/councillors): by region and council, each with a page at https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/councillors/first-last giving their position on the motion, a share image and an email to ask where they stand - [Zack Polanski and the "Zionism is Racism" motion](https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/zack-polanski): what happened, day by day, each line with its source; did he vote for it, did he win the by-election, has the party been reported - [Is Zionism racism?](https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/is-zionism-racism): the direct answer, the argument in order, the terms defined and the sources - [Questions and answers](https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/faq): every question the campaign is asked, answered on one page - [Press and resources](https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/press): facts in brief, quotes for use, the motion PDF and campaign images - [Print a letter](https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/letter): a ready-written one-page A4 letter to Green councillors, headed "Zionism is NOT Racism": reverse Motion A105, posted free to Green Party head office - [Privacy](https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/privacy): what is counted (anonymous totals only) and what is not - [Contact](https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/contact): the contact form, the only way to reach the campaign - [About](https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/about): who publishes the site and how each councillor's position is recorded - [Share image](https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/og/tell-the-greens.png) Hashtags: #TellTheGreens #ZionismIsNotRacism #RacistGreens #RacistGreenParty #IAmAZionist ## Definitions - Zionism: Zionism is the belief that the Jewish people have the right to live as a nation in the Jewish homeland, where Jews have lived continuously for approximately 4,000 years. - Anti-Zionism: Opposition to the existence of a Jewish state. It differs from criticism of an Israeli government, which Zionists make too; anti-Zionism denies to Jews the national self-determination every other people is allowed. - Antisemitism: Hostility to, prejudice against or discrimination against Jews as Jews. The IHRA working definition, adopted by the UK Government, gives as one example "denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g. by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor". - Racism: Racism is treating people worse because of their race, ethnicity or national origin, or holding one group to a standard that is applied to no one else. - Motion A105: "Zionism is Racism", a policy motion of the Green Party of England and Wales conference, passed on 4 October 2026. It declares the party anti-Zionist and orders that Zionism be treated as any other form of racism. ## The councillors' pledge Green councillors and MPs sign in at https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/pledge with their council email. One line is enough to sign, both make the full pledge, and each signer says whether they intend to stay in the Party to fight the motion or to resign from it. The pledge reads: 1. I do not support Motion A105. Zionism is not racism. Zionism is not a term that can be redefined to suit a position. Zionism is simply the belief that Jewish people, like the French, the Irish or the Palestinians, have the right to a homeland of their own. Is that racist? No. 2. I will treat antisemitism as racism. I will report it through the same channels as any other racism. I will represent Jewish residents of my ward as fully as anyone else. 3. I intend to stay in the Party to fight Motion A105. 4. I intend to resign from the Party due to Motion A105. On the record: 8 Green councillors (5 signed, 2 left the party over the motion). Each is named, with ward, council, date and what they pledged, at https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/pledge. ## Councillors and MPs of other parties: who has endorsed Councillors and MPs of every other party in England and Wales are asked to put their names to one sentence: "Zionism is not racism. I call on the Green Party to reverse its "Zionism is Racism" motion." So far 315 have (104 Conservative, 93 Reform UK, 47 Labour, 47 Liberal Democrat, 12 Independent, 9 Local / Residents party, 2 SDP, 1 Restore Britain). Every councillor's and MP's page says whether they have. The full list, newest first: https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/endorse and https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/endorse/mps. The latest: - Cllr Helen Green, Labour, Bentley Heath & The Royds, Hertsmere: signed 13 October 2026. https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/councillor/157257567460401-helen-green - Cllr Mike Sammon, Liberal Democrat, Cambridge, Sefton: signed 13 October 2026. https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/councillor/25806337152578-mike-sammon - Cllr Michael Rubinstein, Labour, Pilkington Park, Bury: signed 13 October 2026. https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/councillor/65645997201621-michael-rubinstein - Cllr Alan Avis, Liberal Democrat, Ewell Village, Stoneleigh & Nonsuch, East Surrey: signed 13 October 2026. https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/councillor/832414885444-alan-avis - Cllr Victoria Sena, Conservative, Shere, West Surrey: signed 13 October 2026. https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/councillor/278007735455252-victoria-sena - Cllr Judith Lubbock, Liberal Democrat, Eaton, Norwich: signed 13 October 2026. https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/councillor/174195587312352-judith-lubbock - Cllr Dave Rowan, Reform UK, Colne Valley West, Kirklees: signed 13 October 2026. https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/councillor/141536349766308-dave-rowan - Cllr Andrew Scarth, Liberal Democrat, Oxhey Hall and Hayling, Three Rivers: signed 13 October 2026. https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/councillor/270240945832359-andrew-scarth - Cllr Chris Myers, Labour, Potters Bar Furzefield, Hertsmere: signed 13 October 2026. https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/councillor/132389430404747-chris-myers - Cllr Steve Clark, Reform UK, Rushden South, North Northamptonshire: signed 13 October 2026. https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/councillor/15964533019021-steve-clark - Cllr James Wright, Reform UK, Winlaton and High Spen, Gateshead: signed 13 October 2026. https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/councillor/211448871315970-james-wright - Cllr David Meller, Labour, Cheadle East & Cheadle Hulme North, Stockport: signed 13 October 2026. https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/councillor/12843830861869-david-meller - Cllr David Sedgwick, Independent, Heatons North, Stockport: signed 13 October 2026. https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/councillor/222456069804182-david-sedgwick - Cllr John Barry Lumsden, Reform UK, Oakley, North Northamptonshire: signed 13 October 2026. https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/councillor/46264955946435-john-barry-lumsden - Cllr Brian Battle, Reform UK, Manor, Stockport: signed 13 October 2026. https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/councillor/183418128706018-brian-battle - Cllr Tom Simon, Liberal Democrat, Belsize, Camden: signed 13 October 2026. https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/councillor/17311637315886-tom-simon - Andrew Snowden MP, Conservative, MP for Fylde: signed 13 October 2026. https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/mp/105072-andrew-snowden - Cllr Kirsty Knight, Conservative, Orton Waterville, Peterborough: signed 13 October 2026. https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/councillor/259440926462466-kirsty-knight - Cllr Alexander Curtis, Conservative, Hoddesdon North, Hertfordshire: signed 13 October 2026. https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/councillor/119357152279307-alexander-curtis - Cllr Sandy Buchanan, Reform UK, Sleaford Westholme, North Kesteven: signed 13 October 2026. https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/councillor/88663342244647-sandy-buchanan - Cllr Christine Collard, Conservative, Heckington Rural, North Kesteven: signed 13 October 2026. https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/councillor/16624998563696-christine-collard - Cllr Renos Joshua Georgiou, Labour, Potters Bar Oakmere, Hertsmere: signed 13 October 2026. https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/councillor/228887386402757-renos-joshua-georgiou - Cllr George Gladstone-New, Reform UK, Egham, West Surrey: signed 13 October 2026. https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/councillor/223001172409788-george-gladstone-new - Cllr David Andrews, Conservative, Ware Rural, East Hertfordshire: signed 13 October 2026. https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/councillor/36617237761078-david-andrews - Cllr Sue Jameson, Labour, Bruce Castle, Haringey: signed 13 October 2026. https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/councillor/219216638754353-sue-jameson - Cllr Martin Gawith, Labour, Skerton Ward, Lancaster: signed 13 October 2026. https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/councillor/143289604648228-martin-gawith - Cllr Mark Grosskopf, Labour, South Tottenham, Haringey: signed 13 October 2026. https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/councillor/117074751013548-mark-grosskopf - Cllr Lucia das Neves, Labour, Woodside, Haringey: signed 13 October 2026. https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/councillor/239384383312537-lucia-das-neves - Cllr Alison Johnston, Conservative, Mid Test, Test Valley: signed 13 October 2026. https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/councillor/173692664602648-alison-johnston - Cllr Billy Taylor, Conservative, Witham North, Braintree: signed 13 October 2026. https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/councillor/66345048666189-billy-taylor - Cllr Howard Woollaston, Conservative, Lambourn, West Berkshire: signed 13 October 2026. https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/councillor/200017806706106-howard-woollaston - Cllr Victor Floyd, Reform UK, Blackbrook, St. Helens: signed 13 October 2026. https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/councillor/17747474548049-victor-floyd - Cllr Denis McLean, Reform UK, Pipers Hill, North Northamptonshire: signed 13 October 2026. https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/councillor/222123303675349-denis-mclean - Cllr Peter Burden, Conservative, Portishead South, North Somerset: signed 13 October 2026. https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/councillor/244095334888146-peter-burden - Cllr Peggy Davies, Reform UK, Chafford Hundred East, Thurrock: signed 13 October 2026. https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/councillor/35292498958617-peggy-davies - Cllr Stan Bryan, Reform UK, Cudworth, Barnsley: signed 13 October 2026. https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/councillor/255759964980907-stan-bryan - Cllr Mione H Goldspink, Liberal Democrat, Bishop's Stortford North, East Hertfordshire: signed 13 October 2026. https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/councillor/16200497486463-mione-h-goldspink - Cllr James Francis, Reform UK, Yaxley, Huntingdonshire: signed 13 October 2026. https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/councillor/233391916921953-james-francis - Cllr Alistair Cole, Reform UK, Henley, Coventry: signed 13 October 2026. https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/councillor/116513236962468-alistair-cole - Cllr Anthony Upton, Reform UK, Kidderminster - St Barnabas, Worcestershire: signed 13 October 2026. https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/councillor/259000602185436-anthony-upton ## Looking someone up - A council's councillors, every party, ward by ward, with who has endorsed and an email to them: https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/councils/ (for example https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/councils/barnet) - A ward's councillors and where each stands: https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/councils// (for example https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/councils/barnet/woodhouse) - A councillor of another party: https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/councillor/-; an MP: https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/mp/-; a Green councillor: https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/councillors/ - Search a name, ward, council or constituency: https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/search?q=, narrowed with &type=councillors|mps|places, ®ion= and &party= - Your own MP and councillors from a postcode: https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/ask-your-mp-and-councillors ## Questions and answers ### What did the Green Party do? On {date} the Green Party of England and Wales voted to declare that "Zionism is racism". Zionism is simply the belief that Jewish people, like the French, the Irish or the Palestinians, have the right to a homeland of their own. Is that racist? No. Green councillors now face a choice about their political future. ### What is Zionism? Zionism is the belief that the Jewish people have the right to live as a nation in the Jewish homeland, where Jews have lived continuously for approximately 4,000 years. That is not racism. It is national self-determination, the same right every other people claims in its historic homeland. French people have the right to a homeland in France. Is that racist? No. Simple. You can fiercely criticise any Israeli government and still be a Zionist, just as you can criticise the French government while believing France is the homeland of the French. Neither is racist. ### What is racism? Racism is treating people worse because of their race, ethnicity or national origin, or holding one group to a standard that is applied to no one else. UK law recognises Jewish people as an ethnic group protected by the Equality Act 2010. ### Why is Zionism not racism? There are nearly 200 countries. Dozens have a majority religion and 43 have an official one. Israel was founded by a United Nations resolution and admitted to the UN in 1949; many countries have far less to show for their founding. Nobody calls any of them racist for existing. If believing in a Jewish homeland is racist, then believing in a Palestinian homeland is racist too. Nobody says that. Only Jews are told it. Picking out Jews, and only Jews, for a rule applied to no one else is racism. That is what the motion does. The United Nations said "Zionism is racism" in 1975 and took it back in 1991. The Green Party has brought it back. Zionism is not racism. By singling out the Jews, the Greens have become racist. ### Is Zionism colonialism? Does Israel have a right to exist? The Jews had no mother country. Colonialism is a mother country planting settlers abroad. The Jews had none. Conquered and expelled from Judea by Rome, ruled there by one empire after another, persecuted wherever they were scattered, they came back to the land where they became a people and have lived for approximately 4,000 years. Half of Israel's Jews descend from the 850,000 driven out of Arab and Muslim countries after 1948. Nobody sent them. Nowhere else would have them. "Settler colony" means "should not exist". Israel was created by United Nations resolution 181 in 1947 and has been a member of the UN since 1949. Dozens of states were drawn in the same decade. Only this one is called a colony to be undone. One in five Israelis is Arab, votes, and sits in the Knesset and on the Supreme Court. Criticise any Israeli government, as Israelis do. Denying the state is different: it denies Jews what every other people has. Israel has a right to exist. Nearly half the world's Jews live there. "No right to exist" means "no right to a country": stateless again, as in the 1930s, when the doors of the world were shut. What Greens For Palestine is saying. The motion commits the party to "a single democratic Palestinian State in all of historic Palestine". That is Israel's abolition. Greens For Palestine says it plainly: "It's time to build an Anti-Zionist Green Party" (Greens For Palestine on Instagram, 3 July 2026, over a map in the Palestinian flag from Haifa to Beersheba that leaves no Israel at all) "The settler colony in occupied Palestine ... the Western world's only major Anti-Zionist party" (Greens For Palestine, 6 October 2026, after Israel barred Zack Polanski from entering the country) That is not a view about Israeli policy. It is a view about whether Jews may have a country at all. Sources: The map and the call to build an anti-Zionist party, 3 July 2026: https://www.instagram.com/p/DaU5pDhKxVb/ The statement of 6 October 2026: https://www.instagram.com/p/DeKK4E0K38I/ ### Is the Green Party motion against the law? The Equality Act 2010 protects people from discrimination, harassment and victimisation because of race, religion or belief. Jews are protected as an ethnic group, and Zionism, as a belief held by most British Jews, is capable of protection as a philosophical belief. The Equality and Human Rights Commission's 2020 guidance for political parties is plain: a party must not discriminate against, harass or victimise its members, associates, guests or those seeking membership because of a protected characteristic, including race, religion and belief. A party that declares the core belief of most British Jews to be racism, and treats those who hold it as racists, contravenes the Equality Act and the Commission's guidance. The motion is not only wrong. It is unlawful. ### What does the motion actually commit the Green Party to? The motion, A105, is not a one-line slogan. It declares the Green Party "an anti-Zionist party". It supports "a single democratic Palestinian State in all of historic Palestine", which means no Israel, and so rejects the two-state solution backed by the United Nations, the UK, the EU, the Arab League and the Palestinian Authority. It affirms Palestinian "struggle ... by all available means", and its own briefing paper spells that out as "including armed struggle". It calls Marwan Barghouti, convicted of five murders, merely a "prisoner of conscience". And it calls for Palestine Action to be taken off the terrorism list. The Greens support proscribed terrorists. Then it turns inward. Zionism is to be "treated as any other form of racism". So, anyone who believes Israel should exist is to be handled as a racist. Every clause is quoted, with our response, at zionismisnotracism.co.uk/the-motion. ### How long have Jews lived in the land of Israel? Jews have lived continuously in the land of Israel for approximately 4,000 years. Zionism is the belief that they have the same right to self-determination there as every other people has in its own homeland. ### What can I do about it? Ask them to choose. One polite email to a dozen Green councillors, with Green Party head office in copy, asking each councillor to join the four Green MPs in speaking out against Motion A105, to call publicly for it to be reversed or to resign, and to say which on the record. It takes two minutes, it goes from your own email, and every one is counted. Then share this page so others can do the same. Pressing "Ask them to choose" prepares the email in your own email app, with a handful of Green councillors and local parties, with the party's leadership in copy, already filled in. Nothing is sent until you press send. ### What is the councillors' pledge? A Green councillor can say two things on the record here, in a minute and with no password: that Zionism is not racism, and that the party got Motion A105 wrong. Sign in with your council email address. The pledge says: I do not support Motion A105. Zionism is not racism. Zionism is not a term that can be redefined to suit a position. Zionism is simply the belief that Jewish people, like the French, the Irish or the Palestinians, have the right to a homeland of their own. Is that racist? No. I will treat antisemitism as racism. I will report it through the same channels as any other racism. I will represent Jewish residents of my ward as fully as anyone else. A councillor need not agree with every line: ticking one is enough to sign, and both make the full pledge. Each councillor then records whether they intend to stay in the party to fight the motion or to resign from it due to the motion. The names are listed at zionismisnotracism.co.uk/pledge, and four of the party's five MPs have publicly rejected the motion. ### Who proposed the motion? Lubna Speitan, a Green Party member who joined within the past year from Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana's 'Your Party'. On 6 October 2026 The Telegraph reported that 2015 court documents described her as a "close friend" of Minh Quang Pham, the al-Qaeda member who admitted planning to bomb the Heathrow arrivals hall, and that she offered to testify in his defence. Asked whether they were still friends, she told the paper: "Yes, it's still the case." The full account, with its source, is at zionismisnotracism.co.uk/the-motion#proposer. ### When did the Green Party pass the motion? The Green Party of England and Wales passed the motion declaring that "Zionism is racism" on 4 October 2026. This campaign asks the party to repeal it. ### What has the Green Party said in reply, and does it stand up? People who email the Green Party about Motion A105 have been getting the same reply. The reply does not say that Zionism is not racism. It does not say the motion is wrong. It does not dispute a line of it. It does not say it will be reversed. They say: "The motion is a statement of the Party's position, it doesn't make any changes to our code of conduct or our guidance on antisemitism." It changes both. The motion says so. Page 6 of the motion: "Zionism, as defined above, will be treated as any other form of racism, and this motion will be implemented by the Anti-Racism Policy Working Group as appropriate and in accordance with its ordinary practice." That is an instruction to the party's anti-racism machinery, not a statement of opinion. Racism already breaks the party's code of conduct. A motion that declares a new form of racism changes what the code catches, whether or not a word of the code is rewritten. The same motion rejects the IHRA and JDA definitions of antisemitism as "weaponised" (page 4). Those are the definitions used by the UK government, the police and the Crown Prosecution Service. A party that drops every accepted definition of antisemitism has changed its guidance on antisemitism. They say: "Anything that didn't break the code of conduct on Saturday, still [does] not break the code of conduct today. Members won't be discriminated against or disciplined because of their beliefs, including protected beliefs." Then the motion means nothing, and the party can withdraw it today. It cannot be both. A policy that treats Zionism "as any other form of racism" and a promise that no Zionist will ever be treated as a racist cannot both be true. One of them is not. The reply concedes, in passing, that Zionism is a protected belief. That is the point. Declaring a protected belief to be racism, as party policy, is what the Equality and Human Rights Commission has been asked to investigate. Discipline is not the only harm, either. A Jewish member who wants to stand as a candidate, chair a local party or sit on a committee now does so in a party whose policy calls their belief racism and which has committed itself to "explicitly opposing Zionism in our internal and external communications going forward" (page 6). They say: "We want to reassure you our Jewish members are safe and welcome in the Party as before." "As before" is the problem. Before, the party had not declared the belief of around nine in ten British Jews to be racism. Jewish members are welcome on one condition: that they accept being called racists by their own party's policy. Four of the party's five MPs have rejected the motion in public. The party has been referred to the Equality and Human Rights Commission over it. A reassurance that changes nothing is not a reassurance. They say: "You suggest reversing this motion. Our policy is voted on by members, and as a completely democratic organisation we cannot immediately reverse a motion which conference has voted to pass." A party that can vote a motion in can vote it out. Conference meets twice a year and can rescind what it passed. "Cannot" means "will not". Nobody is asking the leadership to overrule a vote. We are asking it to say in public that the motion is wrong, as four of its five MPs have, and to bring the vote that reverses it. A members' vote is no defence in law. The Equality Act 2010 binds a political party whatever its members vote for, and the Equality and Human Rights Commission's guidance for parties says so. The United Nations voted that "Zionism is racism" in 1975 and voted to revoke it in 1991. Votes can be reversed. That is what a vote is. They say: "The Party and Leadership are aware of the strength of peoples views on this motion and we will be doing everything we can to make sure all our members, including our Jewish members, feel safe and secure in the Party." Everything except the one thing that would do it. The reply offers Jewish members a feeling of safety while keeping the policy that calls them racists. It does not say that Zionism is not racism. It does not say the motion is wrong. It does not dispute a line of it. Five days after the motion passed, Zack Polanski lost the Holborn and St Pancras by-election. The voters have given their answer. The party has yet to give its own. ## The letter supporters post (https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/letter) Posted free to Green Party head office (Freepost RJUC-HRKX-TGHG), addressed to Green councillors under the heading "Zionism is NOT Racism": reverse Motion A105: Dear Green Councillor, Your "leader" failed. He did not vote for Motion A105 on Zionism, but allowed the party to plunge itself into accusations of being racist. If you voted for Motion A105 yourself, you have singled out the Jews and that has legal ramifications. The Equality Act 2010 protects Jewish people as an ethnic group; the Equality and Human Rights Commission's 2020 guidance says a party must not discriminate against, harass or victimise its members because of race, religion or belief. Green councillors have a responsibility to uphold equality, challenge racism and protect the rights of every community. That responsibility must apply to Jewish people, too. Zionism is not a term you can redefine to suit a position. It is simply the belief that Jewish people, like the French, the Irish or the Palestinians, have the right to a homeland of their own. Is that racist? No. YOUR CHOICE: REVERSE THE MOTION OR RESIGN The Association of Green Councillors should help members resolve this crisis, not lead them into a political and potentially legal disaster. We are therefore asking every Green councillor to take a clear position: PLEDGE to support the reversal of Motion A105. DEMAND that the party obtain independent legal advice on the motion, its implications for Jewish members and communities, and for the Green Party itself. RESIGN if you cannot support a party that takes meaningful action to address these concerns. ZIONISM IS NOT RACISM. REVERSE MOTION A105. Silence is not a solution. Nor is pretending that the issue will simply disappear. Please pledge today to reverse Motion A105 and tell your colleagues this issue cannot be swept under the carpet, or resign. Sincerely, [Your name] ## Sources - Equality Act 2010: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2010/15/contents. Jews are protected as an ethnic group, and religion or belief is a protected characteristic. - Equality and Human Rights Commission, investigation into antisemitism in the Labour Party (October 2020): https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/our-work/inquiries-and-investigations/investigation-antisemitism-labour-party. Found unlawful harassment and discrimination against Jewish members, and set out what a political party must not do. - IHRA working definition of antisemitism: https://holocaustremembrance.com/resources/working-definition-antisemitism. Adopted by the UK Government in 2016 and by councils across the country. - UN General Assembly Resolution 3379 (1975) and Resolution 46/86 (1991): https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/189985. "Zionism is racism", passed in 1975 and revoked in 1991. - Motion A105, "Zionism is Racism", spring 2026 version as circulated to Green Party conference (PDF): https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/motion/motion-a105-spring-2026-zionism-is-racism.pdf. The motion, its supporter list and its briefing paper, in full. - Motion E02, "Zionism is Racism", autumn 2026 version, the one that passed on 4 October 2026 (PDF): https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/motion/motion-e02-autumn-2026-zionism-is-racism.pdf. Same text, with the longer supporter list printed for the autumn conference. ## Citing this site Cite as: Zionism Is Not Racism (2026), "Tell The Greens: Zionism Is Not Racism", https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/, accessed 2026-10-13. Everything here may be quoted with attribution. Counts on the pledge page change as councillors sign; quote them with the date. ## The Green councillors who backed the motion (https://zionismisracism.co.uk/) 46 sitting Green Party of England and Wales councillors are named in the motion's printed lists of supporters. Each has a page at https://zionismisracism.co.uk/first-last. The lists, as issued: spring 2026 version (A105) https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/motion/motion-a105-spring-2026-zionism-is-racism.pdf; autumn 2026 version (E02, passed 4 October 2026) https://zionismisnotracism.co.uk/motion/motion-e02-autumn-2026-zionism-is-racism.pdf. - Cllr Charli Thompson, Woodhouse, Barnet (printed as Charlotte Thompson): both lists: https://zionismisracism.co.uk/charli-thompson - Cllr Duncan Ali, Balsall Heath West, Birmingham: both lists: https://zionismisracism.co.uk/duncan-ali - Cllr Kamel Hawwash, Stirchley, Birmingham: spring 2026 list (A105) only: https://zionismisracism.co.uk/kamel-hawwash - Cllr Najib Warsame, Wembley Park, Brent: autumn 2026 list (E02), the version that passed: https://zionismisracism.co.uk/najib-warsame - Cllr Paul Ryan, Kilburn, Brent: autumn 2026 list (E02), the version that passed: https://zionismisracism.co.uk/paul-ryan - Cllr Stephen Malonga, Kilburn, Brent: autumn 2026 list (E02), the version that passed: https://zionismisracism.co.uk/stephen-malonga - Cllr Marina Lademacher, Queen's Park, Brighton and Hove: spring 2026 list (A105) only: https://zionismisracism.co.uk/marina-lademacher - Cllr Al Al-Maghrabi, Frome Vale, Bristol (printed as Alsayed Al-Maghrabi): autumn 2026 list (E02), the version that passed: https://zionismisracism.co.uk/al-al-maghrabi - Cllr Kathryn Fisher, Petersfield, Cambridge: spring 2026 list (A105) only: https://zionismisracism.co.uk/kathryn-fisher - Cllr Ash Atkinson, Kilburn, Camden: spring 2026 list (A105) only: https://zionismisracism.co.uk/ash-atkinson - Cllr Helen Tucker, Cockermouth North, Cumberland: both lists: https://zionismisracism.co.uk/helen-tucker - Cllr Ingrid Dodd, Guston, Kingsdown and St Margaret's-at-Cliffe, Dover: autumn 2026 list (E02), the version that passed: https://zionismisracism.co.uk/ingrid-dodd - Cllr Daniel Wilson, Exmouth Halsdon, East Devon: autumn 2026 list (E02), the version that passed: https://zionismisracism.co.uk/daniel-wilson - Cllr Robert Watson, Sutton on Sea, East Lindsey: spring 2026 list (A105) only: https://zionismisracism.co.uk/robert-watson - Cllr Brenda Puech, London Fields, Hackney: both lists: https://zionismisracism.co.uk/brenda-puech - Cllr George Sheldon Grün, Clissold, Hackney: both lists: https://zionismisracism.co.uk/george-sheldon-grun - Cllr Zoe Holman, Homerton, Hackney: autumn 2026 list (E02), the version that passed: https://zionismisracism.co.uk/zoe-holman - Cllr Anne Gray, West Green, Haringey: autumn 2026 list (E02), the version that passed: https://zionismisracism.co.uk/anne-gray - Cllr Ash Ahmed, Seven Sisters, Haringey (printed as Asheck Ahmed): both lists: https://zionismisracism.co.uk/ash-ahmed - Cllr Andrew Cooper, Netherton and Newsome, Kirklees (printed as Andy Cooper): autumn 2026 list (E02), the version that passed: https://zionismisracism.co.uk/andrew-cooper - Cllr Imran Safdar, Crosland Moor, Kirklees: autumn 2026 list (E02), the version that passed: https://zionismisracism.co.uk/imran-safdar - Cllr Eden Hills, Little London and Woodhouse, Leeds: both lists: https://zionismisracism.co.uk/eden-hills - Cllr Mothin Ali, Gipton and Harehills, Leeds: spring 2026 list (A105) only: https://zionismisracism.co.uk/mothin-ali - Cllr Aasiya Bora, Stoneygate, Leicester: both lists: https://zionismisracism.co.uk/aasiya-bora - Cllr Hau-Yu Tam, Deptford, Lewisham: both lists: https://zionismisracism.co.uk/hau-yu-tam - Cllr Leni Candan, Evelyn, Lewisham: autumn 2026 list (E02), the version that passed: https://zionismisracism.co.uk/leni-candan - Cllr Rebecca Jones, Blackheath, Lewisham: autumn 2026 list (E02), the version that passed: https://zionismisracism.co.uk/rebecca-jones - Cllr Asma Alam, Burnage, Manchester: both lists: https://zionismisracism.co.uk/asma-alam - Cllr Fesl Reza-Khan, Levenshulme, Manchester: autumn 2026 list (E02), the version that passed: https://zionismisracism.co.uk/fesl-reza-khan - Cllr Hussayn Salem, Ancoats and Beswick, Manchester (printed as Dr Hussayn Salem): autumn 2026 list (E02), the version that passed: https://zionismisracism.co.uk/hussayn-salem - Cllr Chandni Chopra, Heaton, Newcastle upon Tyne: autumn 2026 list (E02), the version that passed: https://zionismisracism.co.uk/chandni-chopra - Cllr Amber Smith, Bowthorpe, Norfolk and Bowthorpe, Norwich: spring 2026 list (A105) only: https://zionismisracism.co.uk/amber-smith - Cllr Bliss Wylie, Thorpe Hamlet, Norwich: both lists: https://zionismisracism.co.uk/bliss-wylie - Cllr Shuguftah Quddoos, Berridge, Nottingham: autumn 2026 list (E02), the version that passed: https://zionismisracism.co.uk/shuguftah-quddoos - Cllr Alfie Davis, Holywell, Oxford: spring 2026 list (A105) only: https://zionismisracism.co.uk/alfie-davis - Cllr Heather Skibsted, Orton Longueville, Peterborough: spring 2026 list (A105) only: https://zionismisracism.co.uk/heather-skibsted - Cllr Imtiaz Ali, Orton Longueville, Peterborough: both lists: https://zionismisracism.co.uk/imtiaz-ali - Cllr Nicola Day, Orton Waterville, Peterborough: spring 2026 list (A105) only: https://zionismisracism.co.uk/nicola-day - Cllr Jacqueline Dominguez, Abbey, Reading: autumn 2026 list (E02), the version that passed: https://zionismisracism.co.uk/jacqueline-dominguez - Cllr Alexi Dimond, Gleadless Valley, Sheffield: both lists: https://zionismisracism.co.uk/alexi-dimond - Cllr Maroof Raouf, Nether Edge and Sharrow, Sheffield: autumn 2026 list (E02), the version that passed: https://zionismisracism.co.uk/maroof-raouf - Cllr Shane Collins, Frome East, Somerset: autumn 2026 list (E02), the version that passed: https://zionismisracism.co.uk/shane-collins - Cllr Pascale Mitchell, Chaucer, Southwark: both lists: https://zionismisracism.co.uk/pascale-mitchell - Cllr Carolyne Culver, Ridgeway, West Berkshire: autumn 2026 list (E02), the version that passed: https://zionismisracism.co.uk/carolyne-culver - Cllr Amanda Onwuemene, Birkenhead and Tranmere, Wirral Council: both lists: https://zionismisracism.co.uk/amanda-onwuemene - Cllr Debbie Woudman, Heene Ward, Worthing: spring 2026 list (A105) only: https://zionismisracism.co.uk/debbie-woudman