Greens meltdown over ‘Zionism is racism’ motion as ex-leader Caroline Lucas warns it will tell Jews they are ‘not welcome’

DAILYMAIL • 1h ago

By GREG HEFFER, POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT 11:43 02 Oct 2026, updated 12:01 02 Oct 2026

The Greens were plunged into meltdown at the start of their conference in Brighton today after two former party leaders hit out at a ‘Zionism is racism’ motion.

Caroline Lucas and Adrian Ramsay criticised plans for Green members to pass a motion that defines Zionism as support for ‘an ethnonationalist Jewish State’.

The motion, which is set to be debated on Sunday, states that Zionism ‘will be treated as any other form of racism’ by the party.

But Ms Lucas, who was the Greens’ first ever MP, branded the motion as ‘divisive’ and warned it could be ‘seen as a sign that Jewish people aren’t welcome’.

Mr Ramsay, who was Green co-leader until Zack Polanski took over as sole leader last year, said it would be ‘wrong’ for the party to adopt the motion.

Zionism is a movement for the creation of a country for Jewish people, which now supports the state of Israel.

The Green motion, as first revealed by the Daily Mail, seeks to declare that the party is ‘opposed’ to Zionism.

It also supports the ‘establishment of a single democratic Palestinian State in all of historic Palestine with Jerusalem as its capital’.

Under the Greens’ definition of the term, Zionism ‘will be treated as any other form of racism’, the motion adds.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Friday morning, Ms Lucas said: ‘I do have serious concerns about this motion.

‘There is no single definition of Zionism, and irrespective of the intentions of the people who put that motion forward, I think there is a real risk that it’ll be divisive and could be seen as a sign that Jewish people aren’t welcome in the party.

‘I will not be supporting it for that reason.’

Mr Ramsay told The Times he would also vote against the motion because it’s ‘not needed’ and ‘not helpful’.

‘The Green Party has a strong position already on challenging the Government and I think it would just be wrong to adopt a policy that could be seen as not supporting the rights of both Israelis and Palestinians to statehood,’ he added.

‘I stand by the position the Green Party had in the 2024 manifesto, on which I was elected, which made clear we want to see equal rights for Israelis and Palestinians.’

Mr Polanski, who is Jewish, recently declared himself to be ‘an anti-Zionist’.

He is expected to support the motion but will also back amendments stating that a Middle East settlement should be ‘determined by Palestinians themselves’, while adding protections for Green members who are Jewish.

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