Jewish Greens could face investigation for attending synagogue

Jewish members of the Green Party could face internal complaints over their attendance at synagogues if members back a motion declaring Zionism is racism.

Party members will vote on the proposal at the Greens’ annual conference in Brighton this weekend, where more than 3,000 people are expected to attend.

Concerns over its impact on Jewish members intensified after an attempt to explicitly protect people who attend organisations that describe themselves as Zionist was rejected during a workshop discussing the motion last week, The Times reported.

Sam Alston, a Jewish member of Oxford Greens, argued that members should not risk disciplinary action simply because they belong to or attend a synagogue or prayer group with links to Zionism.

He warned that failing to provide such protection could amount to “indirect religious discrimination”.

The Times described how in response to some members claiming that the amendment proposed by Alston which would have removed the references to Synagogues or organisations was itself conflating Zionism with Judaism, Alston pointed out that in that very meeting, when his brother had stood up to oppose that element of the overall motion, someone had immediately shouted “Zionist” at him.

“He’s a very publicly anti-Zionist Jew, has been so for a long time, and yet still gets tarred with this brush because of his Judaism,” Alston noted, going on to say that “The reason we need this amendment is because, if the Green Party members vote down the idea that the synagogue membership should be protected and should be compatible with Green Party identity, it would be a terrible signal to send to Jewish members and I really think we are not going to do that.”

Despite Alston’s comments, three quarters of attendees subsequently voted against the amendment he had proposed.

The motion says Zionism would be “treated as any other form of racism” by the party and dealt with through its existing anti-racism procedures.

That has prompted fears that complaints could be made against members over their involvement with Jewish organisations which identify as Zionist. Any complaint would still have to go through the party’s disciplinary process rather than automatically resulting in a sanction.

Research by the Institute for Jewish Policy Research found that 65 percent of British Jews identified as Zionist in 2024, while 10 percent described themselves as anti-Zionist.

Jewish Greens itself has previously warned that the proposal could lead to discrimination because of the number of British Jewish institutions with connections to Zionism. Its current position is that its members are divided over the motion, with some supporting it and others believing it is antisemitic.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism, which The Times said attended the workshop undercover, said the proposal would “introduce an official litmus test for Jewish people in a major political party”.

They added: “It would effectively declare Zionist Jews and mainstream British Jewish institutions to be inherently racist, and would open the door to discrimination against them.”

Green Party leader Zack Polanski said at a Jewish community hustings last week that definitions of Zionism differed, but added: “If you’re defining Zionism as the displacement and genocide of the Palestinians, which is how in practice Zionism has become in truth, then that is racist.”

A Green Party spokesperson said: “The safety of all our members and communities is always a priority in our policy-making and democratic discussions.

“Unlike other political parties, our members can bring and set policy. This is one motion alongside dozens of others that will be discussed at what will be our biggest-ever party conference.”