VOICE OF THE JEWISH NEWS – The Green party has crossed a red line

It is no secret that our community is home to many internal disagreements. Whether on Israeli government policy or aspects of Jewish law, there is seldom unity. We are monotheistic, not monolithic.

So when the heads of all major religious denominations, as well as Jews of every stripe, up to and including a proportion of those who would describe themselves as anti-Zionists, are in complete public agreement, it is incumbent upon other people to listen.

The “Zionism is Racism” motion passed by the Greens at their annual conference is the most insidious policy adopted by a supposedly mainstream party in living memory. Zionism is the belief in the right of the Jewish people to a state, in their historic homeland. Supporters of the Green Party motion – as well as the party’s leader, Zack Polanski – have argued that Zionism is racist, based on how the history of this ideology has played out. They seem less keen to acknowledge that if this is the metric by which to judge an ideology, both Communism and Palestinian nationalism (both of which have far more adherents in the Green Party than Zionism) should receive similar censure.

Imagine people deciding you are unworthy of a basic level of standing in general society, based on a belief you hold specifically because the last 2,000 years of the history of your people has shown, repeatedly, that it’s not just rational, but vital, for you to hold it. That is what the Green party has now done.

But just to make sure that everyone knew just how deeply antisemitic they were determined to be, Green party members overwhelmingly rejected an amendment to that motion, which said it “shall not be used to pressure, proscribe or discipline members based on affiliation with Jewish community institutions, such as Synagogues, community centres or denominational groups, that describe themselves as Zionist, or used to discipline or sanction Jewish members for holding views that would be non sanctionable if expressed by non Jewish members (such as supporting a binational state, or two state solution).”

Other political parties have condemned the appalling decision by the Greens. But words are not enough. There desperately needs to be a cordon sanitaire established by society, to make it clear that such abject bigotry will not be tolerated. And this is where Labour and the Liberal Democrats, in particular, need to be held to account. All polling suggests the possibility of a hung parliament, even without the rumoured changes to a proportional representation system of voting which would effectively guarantee coalition governments forever more.

The UK’s mainstream political parties need to make it publicly clear that they will not ally themselves with the Green Party, on a national, regional or local level, while it maintains the policy it voted to accept this weekend. British Jews, and indeed wider society, should know what they are voting for. Without such assurances, many may understandably hesitate to cast their ballots for parties willing to countenance post-election pacts with an organisation which seeks to render most Jews pariahs.