‘It has to pass’: Green Party members give their take on the Zionism is Racism motion

Members of the Green Party voiced strong opinions on the upcoming Zionism is racism motion at the annual conference in Brighton, with some saying they would struggle to remain members if it did not pass. 

The motion, set to be voted on Sunday, calls for the party to define Zionism as a racist, settler‑colonial ideology and declare itself against it.

While the motion drew a record number of co-proposers and was endorsed by the likes of Greta Thunberg, concerns have been raised about key demands.

"If you want a homeland, then therefore you're taking somebody's land for it based on identity; that is racism, so yes, Zionism is racism. Of course, I want the motion to go through," Green Party member Alex Blower told The New Arab.

"If we're going to fight against settlements, and we're going to fight against genocide and apartheid, the same way as this country did back in the 80s against South Africa, which we recognise as a racist ideology, we have to recognise this as the racist ideology it is," Blower continued.

"Look at what [Zionism is] doing, look at what it's done, there is no manifestation of this ideology that does not involve the suffering, the subjugation, of other people seen as lesser than those who want the land."

Zoë Garbett, the newly elected mayor of Hackney in London, explained that she wanted to separate the concept from the question of whether Zionism is racism from the motion.

"I think it's been quite clear that we can say…that the acts that we see taking place in Palestine are clearly racist and clearly taken from a political ideology that is racist, and I think that's clear," Zoë Garbett told The New Arab.

While she agrees with the concept of Zionism being racism, the mayor wanted to leave the motion to the conference floor.

Many expressed optimism that the motion would pass.

"I think it's an important one we need to be having as a conversation in this country," member Humza Egal told The New Arab.

"Sometimes things go your way, sometimes they don't go your way. But I think from the overwhelming support for the motion, and how it's been put together, I think it will pass."

Green Party member Keith Garrett agreed with the sentiment, saying the motion was the main reason he went to Brighton. “[The motion] should totally pass. I mean it has to pass for the Green Party to have a position on this," he said. 

When asked how he would feel if the motion failed, Garrett said he believes he would struggle to remain a member of the Green Party.

"I think it's that serious. We need to take a stand on what's happening across the world," Garrett explained. "I think a lot of it is essentially just giving determination to the Palestinian people."

"So, we have essentially forced a solution that wasn't theirs onto them. So now we need to help them and the people who are still in Israel work out a solution together."

Meanwhile, Garbett said she recognised the connection many may have to the issue, referring to the Green Party's strong stance towards Palestine, adding that "it would be a shame" if the motion causes divisions within the party. 

However, for others, whether the motion fails or passes will not be the "be all or end all".

"We are already an anti-Zionist party… there's not really any disagreement about the need for Palestinian liberation within the party," member Eugene McCarthy told The New Arab.

"Ethnonationalism is racism, and Zionism is ethnonationalism. I don't think you need a motion to say that."