Scottish Jewish leaders call Greens’ stance on Zionism ‘abhorrent’

The body representing Scottish Jews has claimed that Green politicians have “declared themselves antisemitic” by adopting the “outright extremist” position that Zionism is racist. The board of the Jewish Council of Scotland, the representative body for Scotland’s Jews, said it “wholly condemned” a motion passed by the Green Party of England and Wales at the weekend, which was largely endorsed by Ross Greer, the co-leader of the Scottish Greens. Most commented 1 Kemi Badenoch puts cutting ‘immoral’ inheritance tax at core of speech Politics 610 comments 2 Spain’s embattled PM Pedro Sánchez calls snap election Europe 336 comments 3 It’s about time high earners had a tax break Tax 108 comments 4 Brazil election results: Flavio Bolsonaro sets up bitter contest with Lula Latin America 170 comments 5 Saudis begin battle to force Houthis from Bab al-Mandeb Strait Middle East 21 comments Greens south of the border passed a motion declaring Zionism, the movement that endorsed a Jewish homeland and led to the creation of Israel, should be “treated as any other form of racism”. It also endorsed the creation of a single Palestinian state, which critics say would mean the elimination of Israel. Top stories 1 Andrew takes Thames Valley police to court over Jeffrey Epstein investigation Royal family In a statement the Jewish Council of Scotland branded the position “abhorrent” and said it should be “viewed as antisemitic, dangerously discriminatory, and outright extremist”. “For an overwhelming majority of Scotland’s Jews, Zionism is supporting Israel’s right to exist as the ancestral homeland of the Jewish people,” the board said. “Branding it racist erases those distinctions and places an unacceptable test of political belief on Jewish belonging. Advertisement “These are fundamental rights and should be protected as such, not made the subject of threat and intimidation by political leaders seeking to cause harmful division. Top stories 1 Six thrilling Costa Rica trips with Times Holidays Promoted content “We call on the Scottish Greens leadership and members to withdraw their support for this position and any adoption of an equivocal policy. We further ask they state unequivocally that Jewish individuals and communal organisations will face no exclusion or discrimination because of their connection to Israel or their Zionist beliefs.” The Green Party of England and Wales, and the Scottish Greens, are distinct parties. However, ties have strengthened since the election of Zack Polanski as leader south of the border last year, and his high profile was seen as contributing to the Scottish Greens’ record result at May’s Holyrood election. Rachel Millward and Mothin Ali, deputy leaders of the Green Party, at their conference in Brighton where the motion was passed Shutterstock Editorial The Jewish Council of Scotland added: “By choosing to take this stance, and enacting it as party policy, the Green Party of England and Wales, and Scottish Greens, are openly declaring themselves antisemitic and their leaders should be held accountable in the strongest possible terms for their actions. Advertisement “Political parties have a responsibility to challenge antisemitism, including within their own movements. We urge Scotland’s political leaders to reject this position clearly and further call for their continuing solidarity alongside the Jewish community.” Israel bans Zack Polanski after Green Party’s ‘Zionism is racism’ vote In a radio interview on Tuesday morning, Greer responded “yes” when asked by the BBC whether he considered Zionism to be racist. He went on to condemn the actions of the Israeli government in committing what he called a “genocide” in Gaza, but suggested that the state of Israel had been a racist endeavour since its foundation in 1948. Scotland newsletter Your weekend briefing from the Scotland edition of The Times and The Sunday Times. Sign up with one click You’ve successfully signed up to the Scotland newsletter Explore our newsletters An error occurred. Please use the link below. Scotland newsletter Explore our newsletters “The state of Israel has always been a state that put one group above others in an ethnic superiority complex, a system of racism,” Greer said. “Israel was founded in 1948 with the expulsion of 700,000 Palestinians from the land they already lived on. Thousands were massacred. “That was how the state of Israel was created. And for the seven decades since then, that has only got worse and worse and worse.” Advertisement About a quarter of Israel’s population are not Jewish. Non-Jewish citizens in Israel have equal rights to vote, basic civil rights and legal protections. However, Jews from anywhere in the world have a legal right to Israeli citizenship, which does not apply to any other group, and a law passed in 2018 declares that only Jews have a right to self-determination in the country. Unlike the party south of the border, which called for the elimination of Israel and the establishment of a single Palestinian state, Greer said it was not for him to dictate whether there should be a one or two-state solution. He condemned the Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023, as “horrific war crimes” and said he did not agree with the England and Wales party that Israel should be “eliminated by any means, including armed struggle”. He branded that part of the motion “totally daft”. However, he said Palestinian people had a “right to resist their occupier, including by force” in cases where Israel was illegally occupying Palestine. He added: “The state of Israel commits war crimes against innocent people every single day.” Advertisement Scottish Greens faced scrutiny at the weekend for their links to the group Educators for Peace, which is attempting to influence Scottish education by pushing for teachers to abandon impartiality when speaking about the Gaza conflict. A pro-Israel protester waves a poster at the Greens’ Manchester mayoral candidate Geraldine Coggins as she enters the Brighton conference this month Shutterstock Editorial The party has previously enthusiastically championed the group, including inviting its co-founder, the Edinburgh primary school teacher, Sara El-Awaisi, to Holyrood to be honoured as a “local hero”. Greer spoke at its first conference this year. However, a video has emerged of El-Awaisi participating in a video for children in which the term “Zios”, widely seen as a racial slur for Jewish people, is used. The party has so far declined to comment on the video, published at the weekend by The Sunday Times. Russell Findlay, the leader of the Scottish Tories, said it was “disgusting and dangerous” for Greer to back much of the motion passed by the Greens south of the border. “The Greens are now being quite open about their belief that Israel doesn’t have the right to exist,” he said. “They’ve gone from posturing and flag-waving about Palestine when people want the Scottish parliament to be focused on what matters to them to now calling for Israel to be abolished. Advertisement “Greer has shamefully rowed in behind Zack Polanski. This obsession with Israel that we’ve seen on the streets of Scotland and across the UK has been normalised. “It’s the Jewish community in the UK who are being blamed for the actions of a government, and they are living in fear as a result. Backing this motion will only further fan the flames of that hate.”