The eco-populist leader said the Israeli government’s actions in Gaza are “absolutely” racist.
LONDON — Green Party Leader Zack Polanski said Tuesday he will support a motion titled “Zionism is racism” if it is linked to the Israeli government’s actions in Gaza.
His comments come days before a crucial by-election in the Greater Manchester constituency of Gorton and Denton, where the Greens have presented themselves as the main left-wing challengers to the incumbent Labour Party.
The motion, which will be put forward at the party’s spring conference next month, is titled “Zionism is Racism,” and also backs the “right of the Palestinian people to resistance and liberation from Israeli occupation, domination and subjugation.”
Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel on Sunday condemned the motion as “one of the most hateful and racist documents I’ve ever read.”
Polanski, the Jewish leader of the eco-populist force, said his support for the motion would depend on the definition of Zionism.
“I can give you some different definitions of Zionism and we can talk about whether they’re racist or not,” he told Times Radio. “If we’re talking about the definition that this Israeli government are clearly perpetrating through a genocide in Gaza, then yes, absolutely. That’s racist.”
He stressed that any of the party’s more than 195,000 members could put forward a motion, and he will be “listening carefully to the debate,” adding that it isn’t “particularly helpful to have an argument or a debate about labels.”
Pushed on whether he would vote for the motion, he said: “I’ll wait to hear the debate, but absolutely, if the definition of Zionism is what is happening right now by the Israeli government, then yes, absolutely, that’s racist and I’ll vote for it.”
The by-election in Greater Manchester comes after a terrorist attack on Jews in northern Manchester last October at the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue, where two people were killed. The attack took place during the Jewish Holiday of Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.