{"id":265249,"date":"2026-08-26T08:45:19","date_gmt":"2026-08-26T08:45:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/265249\/"},"modified":"2026-08-26T08:45:19","modified_gmt":"2026-08-26T08:45:19","slug":"green-party-bans-jewish-palestinian-peace-group-because-its-linked-to-israel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/265249\/","title":{"rendered":"Green Party bans Jewish-Palestinian peace group because it\u2019s linked to Israel"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The JC can also reveal:<\/p>\n

– Greens are pushing for sanctions against Iran and the ban on the regime\u2019s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to be reversed;<\/p>\n

– Party members are simultaneously demanding councils bring in a BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) ban on any Israel-linked investments;<\/p>\n

– The party is taking advice on Jewish issues from Diaspora Alliance, an organisation which opposes the IHRA definition of antisemitism;<\/p>\n

– The Antisemitism Policy Trust (APT) was \u201cshamefully\u201d excluded from the conference after the party consulted Jewish Greens \u2013 a group one source claims has been taken over by antizionists.<\/p>\n

\"GreenGreen Party leaders, Harriet Lamb, CEO, Zack Polanski, party leader, and deputies Mothin Ali and Rachel Millward on the second day of the Green Party Conference at Bournemouth International Centre at Bournemouth International Centre on October 04, 2025. (Getty Images)Getty Images<\/a> <\/p>\n

The JC understands that UK Friends of Standing Together has been barred from hosting a stall or fringe event.<\/p>\n

The grassroots movement of progressive Jews and Palestinians who \u201ccampaign against the occupation and for peace, equality, and social justice,\u201d has a Green group backed by most of the party\u2019s parliamentarians but has been blocked from conference.<\/p>\n

In 2024, a BDS body, the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) branded Standing Together \u201can Israeli normalisation outfit that seeks to distract from and whitewash Israel\u2019s ongoing genocide in Gaza\u201d.<\/p>\n

UK Friends of Standing Together rejected the accusation, accusing PACBI of a \u201cfixation on forms of language above practical politics\u201d, adding that Standing Together describe Israel\u2019s policy in the West Bank as \u201capartheid\u201d and the war in Gaza as \u201cgenocidal\u201d.<\/p>\n

The group also highlighted how the Israeli authorities have arrested its members, and one chapter was banned from an Israeli university after displaying images of children killed in Gaza.<\/p>\n

The APT led by chief executive Danny Stone is also blocked from the conference after it suggested a session with pollsters More in Common titled \u201cThe Greens and Antisemitism: what does getting it right look like?\u201d, with Green MP Ellie Chowns on the panel.<\/p>\n

\"AA general view of the Green Party plenary meeting on the final day of the Green Party Conference, at Bournemouth International Centre on October 05, 2025. (Getty Images)Getty Images<\/a> <\/p>\n

The JC has learnt that the event was cancelled after conference organisers consulted the Jewish Greens, a party-affiliated liberation group that runs training on antisemitism, and on whose committee Polanski previously sat as treasurer.<\/p>\n

Jewish Green chair Vivien Lichtenstein thought the event \u201cshould include other issues… than just looking at antisemitism in isolation\u201d but the suggestion was declined by More In Common.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the JC has learnt that party officials have turned for advice on Jewish matters to Diaspora Alliance (DA), which has campaigned against the International Holocaust Remembrance Association (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, as adopted by the UK government and other authorities worldwide.<\/p>\n

DA claim the definition \u201chas been used to repress free speech and silence those who campaign against Israel\u2019s government\u2019s actions\u201d.<\/p>\n

One communal source said DA\u2019s involvement indicates that the party is looking for training from groups that do not align with the views of \u201cmainstream British Jewry, or widely accepted definitions,\u201d and they said this pointed to a \u201cconcerning direction in the Green Party\u201d.<\/p>\n

One motion proposed for conference by Animah Kosai, a member of the Green Party Council and a committee member of Global Majority Greens alongside Mothin Ali, is titled \u201cCouncillors to apply BDS for Palestine in councils\u201d.<\/p>\n

It urges Green councillors to divest from \u201ccomplicit\u201d stocks and banks, citing Barclays as an example.<\/p>\n

With more than 1,300 councillors across England and Wales, the motion says the party should use its increased local authority power to pass divestment motions.<\/p>\n

\"GreenGreen Party MP’s, members, activists and supporters gather on Bournemouth beach for a ‘Red Line for Palestine’ protest on the second day of the Green Party Conference, on October 04, 2025 in Bournemouth. (Getty Images)Getty Images<\/a> <\/p>\n

A second motion, \u201cApplying BDS internally in the Green Party\u201d, warns that the party uses products and services from companies on BDS lists, asserting that \u201cOutwardly having BDS views isn\u2019t enough. The Green Party must adhere to BDS internally as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the same time, members are calling an end to measures against the Islamic Republic.<\/p>\n

One motion, \u201cFrom confrontation to peace with Iran\u201d, calls for sanctions against Iran to be scrapped and for Britain to drop its proscription of the IRGC.<\/p>\n

On the party\u2019s official discussion board, the motion\u2019s supporters advocated for \u201cdiplomatic normalisation\u201d with Tehran, an end to \u201cWestern imperialism\u201d in the region and claimed that economic sanctions against the regime \u201cprimarily harm civilians\u201d.<\/p>\n

One contributor to the discussion about another Iran-focused motion accused parts of the Greens of \u201cpro-regime infiltration\u201d.<\/p>\n

The debate became sufficiently heated for a party official to intervene, suspending the discussion on July 13, the same day Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood designated the IRGC a threat to national security.<\/p>\n

Linking to a news article about the new law banning support for the IRGC, a member of the party\u2019s Standing Orders Committee (SOC) said, \u201cin light of the news today,\u201d that the committee was \u201cseeking legal advice\u201d on the two motions.<\/p>\n

\u201cSOC will be reviewing all comments on both motions and deleting comments where necessary,\u201d she wrote, and the conference page subsequently recorded: \u201cThe comments are closed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Greens arguing in support of continued sanctions against the Islamic Republic accused other party members of \u201cspeaking over Iranians.\u201d<\/p>\n

One British-Iranian warned of \u201cmisinformation, pro-regime infiltration both within and outside of the party\u201d.<\/p>\n

The conference may also see a debate over the motion \u201cZionism is racism\u201d. If selected and passed, it would make the Greens the first UK political party to formally define the belief in Jewish self-determination as a racist ideology.<\/p>\n

A video is now circulating among anti-Israel activists explaining how to register for Green membership and urging them to place the \u201cZionism is racism\u201d motion first in their priority ballot, while ranking an opposing motion calling for a two-state solution last.<\/p>\n

The video warns that the second motion could \u201csplit energy or offer a softer alternative that steals airtime\u201d.<\/p>\n

The JC understands that the latter, titled \u201cBuilding a consensus in support for Palestinian liberation\u201d, is an attempt by some members, including one Jewish Green, to find a less \u201cdivisive\u201d position on Israel.<\/p>\n

It urges the party \u201cto end impunity for Israel, condemn its racist, ethnonationalist basis, and build steps towards a free Palestine\u201d.<\/p>\n

Some members of the Green leadership team are understood to be frustrated by the \u201cZionism is racism\u201d motion. But with hundreds of co-proposers \u2013 compared with the dozens typically secured by other motions \u2013 party insiders believe it is likely to be slated for debate when the ballot closes at midnight on August 27.<\/p>\n

\"GreenGreen Party leader Zack Polanski (cr) with Carla Denyer MP (l), Ellie Chowns MP and Mothin Ali, Deputy Leader of the Green Party, listen to the Global Majority Greens speech on the final day of the Green Party Conference at Bournemouth International Centre, on October 05, 2025 in Bournemouth, England. (Getty Images)Getty Images<\/a> <\/p>\n

Since Polanski became leader last year on an \u201ceco populist\u201d platform, Green membership has soared from 66,000 to a reported 230,000 as of this May.<\/p>\n

One Jewish Green told the JC that they fear the group has now been \u201ctaken over\u201d by antizionist activists.<\/p>\n

The group initially urged members to vote against the \u201cZionism is racism\u201d motion.<\/p>\n

But after dissent among some in the growing Jewish group, this month it issued an \u201cinterim\u201d statement withdrawing that view. It now says it has \u201cno official position\u201d on the motion. The new statement acknowledges that \u201csome members\u201d believe the motion \u201cwould risk the party discriminating against Jews\u201d, while notes that other Jewish Greens \u201csupport the motion in its entirety\u201d.<\/p>\n

Litchenstein, chair of Jewish Greens, said: \u201cOur constitution [says] that \u2018Jewish Greens will not offer a single position on topics such as Israel-Palestine or Zionism and will instead seek to provide a range of opinions\u2019. And \u2018it is paramount that Jewish Greens is a space for all Jews in the Green Party regardless of the deeply held divisions in society and our community on these issues.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

But another Jewish Green said the faction\u2019s shifting position on Israel, combined with the number of new Green members who have joined because of the party\u2019s anti-Israel stance, means that internal Jewish opposition to the \u201cZionism is racism\u201d motion will inevitably collapse.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of us are trying to counter [the motion] as much as we can, but there is not much more we can do because we just do not have the numbers,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n

One Jewish communal leader said they feared the Greens were heading down the same path as the Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn.<\/p>\n

\u201cJewish Greens have got splits, and people trying to infiltrate and take it over… it is exactly what happened with Labour, the party has been taken over by the hard left.\u201d<\/p>\n

In response to this, Litchenstein pointed to the group\u2019s \u201cdemocratic\u201d structure.<\/p>\n

Phil Rosenberg, the president of the Board of Deputies, said the organisation had \u201crepeatedly conveyed concerns\u201d to the party about the \u201chostility\u201d felt by its Jewish members.<\/p>\n

Rosenberg called on party members to \u201creject the agenda of ideological extremists who show open contempt for Jewish identity and experience\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are very concerned by evidence of a growing climate of hostility felt by Jews in the Green Party, including a motion for their autumn conference that Jewish Greens warned in February was an \u2018attack on Jewish identity\u2019. We have repeatedly conveyed concerns directly to the party.<\/p>\n

\u201cReports that the party has rejected conference events offered by experts on antisemitism and by Israeli peace builders are further troubling signs. We call on party members to reject the agenda of ideological extremists who show open contempt for Jewish identity and experience,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Danny Stone, the chief executive of the Antisemitism Policy Trust, said: \u201cLast time I was at Green Party conference the session was disrupted and closed early. This time the Trust is being prevented from running a fringe at all. This is a terrible record and one the party should be concerned about and ashamed of. I hope it will reverse the decision and let us run our fringe. What are the organisers afraid of?<\/p>\n

\u201cOur event was set to be positive and educational. If Polanski\u2019s Green Party cannot learn from the errors other parties have made in the past, it will be doomed to repeat them.\u201d<\/p>\n

UK Friends of Standing Together said: \u201c[Our] supporters in several political parties plan to have a presence at their respective party conferences, to raise awareness of Standing Together\u2019s fight against war, occupation, and racism, and for peace and equality. We are always happy to discuss areas where we don\u2019t agree with others, and regret when this is not possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the Green Party said: \u201cWe work with a range of organisations on a range of topics.<\/p>\n

\u201cBoycotts, divestment and sanctions are policy options that helped bring an end to the Apartheid regime in South Africa. In the present day they are being widely used to put pressure on Israel to abide by international law. They are supported by a majority of the British public.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the Iran motions, they added: \u201cThe government\u2019s ban does not apply to any comments made before July 13, 2026.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is one of a large number of motions proposed for our Autumn conference. All motions go through a prioritisation process, and few will actually be debated.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The JC can also reveal: – Greens are pushing for sanctions against Iran and the ban on the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":265250,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[33],"tags":[27985,37,33293],"class_list":["post-265249","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-israel","tag-green-party","tag-israel","tag-zack-polanski"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/117160937463869516","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265249","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=265249"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265249\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/265250"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=265249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=265249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=265249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}