Board of Deputies declares Green Party a 'racist party' over Zionism motion

The Board of Deputies of British Jews has voted to declare the Green Party of England and Wales a racist party, after the party’s conference earlier this month adopted a policy branding Zionism as racism.

The Board said its October Plenary Meeting passed the motion by 118 votes to 1, and that it will now treat the Greens as it has treated other parties it considers racist. Parties that cooperate politically with the Greens will be seen as failing to take antisemitism seriously, the Board said, while it will engage with Green members who reject the resolution and call for its reversal.

Board President Phil Rosenberg said: “By adopting an antisemitic platform, the Green Party of England and Wales has become a racist party. We will treat it accordingly.” He said the party’s policy “brands much of our community, including our synagogues and communal organisations, with that slur” and called on the Green leadership to reverse the policy.

The decision follows the Greens’ 4 October conference motion, which the Board says effectively called for Israel to be replaced with a Palestinian state. When the motion passed, a Green Party spokesman said the party is anti-racist, opposes racism in all its forms, and stands by its opposition to the occupation and to arms sales to Israel. Four of the party’s five MPs publicly rejected the conference motion at the time.

Sources:

• Board of Deputies of British Jews: https://bod.org.uk/bod-news/the-board-of-deputies-passes-motion-declaring-that-the-green-party-has-by-adopting-an-antisemitic-platform-become-a-racist-party/
• The Times of Israel: https://www.timesofisrael.com/top-uk-jewish-group-declares-green-party-racist-after-it-rules-zionism-is-racism/
• The Jerusalem Post: https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/antisemitism/article-912829