Britainupdated 1h ago2 min read
Andy Burnham Rules Out Partnership With Green Party Over Zionism Is Racism Motion
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PM Andy Burnham rules out Labour partnership with Greens over motion equating Zionism with racism Green Party motion declares Zionism is racism and supports a single democratic Palestinian state.
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Burnham rejects Green deal
Prime Minister Andy Burnham ruled out a partnership with the Green Party while it maintains its recently adopted policy declaring Zionism a form of racism, calling the motion “wrong” and “antisemitic” in the House of Commons. Burnham told MPs, “It is wrong, it is antisemitic, and this side of the House will have nothing to do with it,” after Conservative MP Dame Harriett Baldwin urged him to “rule out cooperating” with the Greens over the motion.
The Green Party passed the motion by 1,022 votes to 813 at its party conference in Brighton earlier this month, and the motion defines Zionism as a form of racism predicated on the dispossession and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians. Green member Lubna Speitan said she has received death and rape threats since the vote, and Speitan told Al Jazeera, “These threats were anticipated,” while describing the messages and emails she reported to police.
EHRC seeks details
The Equality and Human Rights Commission wrote to the Green Party asking for more information about the “Zionism is racism” motion and to assess its practical implications and potential impact. An EHRC spokesperson said, “We have written to the Green Party of England and Wales about its recently adopted 'Zionism is racism' motion to ask for more information and assess its practical implications and potential impact.”
The Green Party responded that it “will not discriminate against or exclude people for holding Zionist views” and said the motion sets out a political position with “no impact on membership conditions or internal disciplinary processes”. The BBC reported that dozens of Labour and Lib Dem MPs and Jewish campaigners wrote to the regulator raising concerns about antisemitism after the Green motion was passed, and the BBC said four of the five Green MPs and two former leaders criticised the move.
Greens divided, motion disputed
Green members discussed overturning the “antisemitic” motion, with the Jewish Chronicle reporting that dozens of Greens were organising across WhatsApp groups to devise a strategy to undo it. The Jewish Chronicle said the Prime Minister and Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis both branded the motion “antisemitic”, and the paper quoted Andy Burnham saying the Labour Party would not “support a partnership” with the Greens while it maintains the motion.
The Jewish Chronicle reported that the motion was backed by a conference vote in which “0.4 per cent of Green members voted for” it, and the paper said Polanski did not vote, co-deputy Mothin Ali voted in favour, and co-deputy Rachel Millward voted against. A Green Party spokesperson told the Jewish Chronicle, “The motion at the Green Party conference has provoked strong debate and there are different views on aspects of the motion but for Andy Burnham to conflate criticism of Israel, with antisemitism is disappointing and wrong.”