JLM invokes Labour EHRC ruling in warning to Polanski over unchecked antisemitism

The Jewish Labour Movement has written to Zack Polanski, warning him that any move to reject a widely accepted definition of antisemitism could leave the party facing the charge that it is now a space where Jew-hatred goes unchecked.

In a letter sent to the Greens leader on Thursday, ahead of a possible vote at the Greens Spring Conference on a motion equating Zionism with racism at the weekend, JLM openly raised the referral of the Labour Party to the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) and the unprecedented finding that the party was guilty of indirect harassment and abuse of Jewish members.

National chair Ella Rose-Jacobs and national secretary Rebecca Filer’s letter suggests that if passed, the anti-Zionism motion “would mean the Green Party would ‘reject the adoption or use’ of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism, as well as ‘alike’ definitions.”

Noting that Polanski had previously campaigned for the Greens to adopt the IHRA definition in 2018 as a co-founder of the Jewish Greens group, the letter adds: “Definitions are important to help protect those with characteristics stated as part of the Equality Act of 2010.”

“Without clear definitions that are used across civil society and British institutions on antisemitism, it leaves the Green Party as a potential space for antisemitism to go unchecked, and ultimately would lead to Jewish people being isolated and experience discrimination within your party.”

Citing the EHRC ruling against Labour, the letter writers warn: “JLM knows where the route the Green Party is taking will go, and we would like to relay our experiences to you.”

They add: “Parties on the left are not immune to antisemitism, both historically and today.”

“And in a climate of anxiety and fear for the Jewish community in the UK, passing this motion would further contribute to this. Antisemitism is on the rise in the UK, with over 1,529 cases being reported in the first half of 2025.”

“The British Jewish community suffered the terrible attack at Heaton Park Synagogue, and the torching of four Hatzola ambulances in Golders Green this week. Much of this wave of antisemitism has been driven by the kind of antisemitism that is deeply linked to the anti-Zionist ideas that this motion is seeking to embed in the Green Party.

“The Green Party can change its course before it’s too late.”