Lucas says Green Party’s ‘Zionism is racism’ motion risks targeting Jews not Israel
Wording of motion 'caused a lot of concern' admits former Greens leader
Former Green Party leader Caroline Lucas has criticised efforts within the party to advance a motion equating Zionism with racism, warning that its wording risked targeting Jewish people rather than the Israeli government.
In a new interview, the former MP for Brighton Pavilion said: “The way in which that motion was worded caused a lot of concern among people across the party.”
She added:”Zionism can be interpreted in so many different ways, and there was a concern that some people thought the motion was talking more about individual Jewish people rather than the Israeli government.”
Speaking to Politics Home, Lucas was asked about attempts to debate a “Zionism is racism” motion at the Green Party’s Spring conference earlier this year.
Although the motion was not debated due to procedural issues, there are concerns it could resurface at the party’s autumn conference.
“I’m not sure it’s a very helpful debate,” Lucas said. “The way in which that motion was worded caused a lot of concern among people across the party.”
Lucas also said she had no regrets about speaking out before the May local elections, when she raised serious concerns about the party’s vetting processes following a large number of antisemitism allegations against candidates.
“I felt that it needed to be said, and that the vast majority of people both inside and outside the party would agree with it. It just felt that I hadn’t seen it being said in quite those terms,” she told Politics Home.
In the same interview, Lucas added that she would “love” to see leader Zack Polanski focus more on talking about the environment.
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