Green Party Adopts Policy Defining Zionism as Racism at Brighton, England, Conference

Supporters of Israel gathered outside the Green Party conference in Brighton, England, on 3 October 2026, protesting a motion that defines Zionism as a form of racism. According to Middle East Eye, dozens of pro-Israel demonstrators confronted Green Party members as they entered the venue. The motion was authored by British-Palestinian member Lubna Speitan and was set for a vote by party members.

Before the conference, The Guardian reported that the Greens were urging Zack Polanski, leader of the party in England and Wales, to take a stance on the proposal. The motion emerged from a members’ vote and was expected to be debated at the Brighton conference that October. According to the Guardian, the policy would equate Zionism with racism, call for a single Palestinian state, and could lead to disciplinary action against members who support Zionism. Polanski had not publicly commented on the motion, which had raised concern among some party members about alienating Jewish supporters.

The motion was then put to a vote at the party’s annual congress in Brighton. Palinfo reported that the proposal, titled “Racist Zionistism,” received 1,022 votes in favour and 813 against. Epoch.org.il reported the same tally, adding that a majority of 1,022 supporters voted for the policy. Palinfo said the party leader did not take part in the vote, and it said the resolution would be implemented by the party’s anti-racism policy working group. Palinfo and Epoch.org.il both described the resolution as adopted as official party policy. Palinfo spells the leader’s name “Zach Polanski,” while The Guardian uses “Zack.”

The reports differ on some details of the policy’s content. Epoch.org.il described the party as anti-Zionist and said it advocates a single Palestinian state encompassing all of historical Palestine, with Jerusalem as its capital. The Guardian’s later briefing described the motion as advocating a single Palestinian state with equal rights for all. Neither report’s wording is confirmed by the other, so the description of the state’s scope and governance should be attributed to each outlet separately.

The Guardian’s Tuesday briefing said the motion passed at the Brighton conference and reported that the vote had caused a backlash. Concern among members about alienating Jewish supporters, which The Guardian had reported before the vote, remained part of the public debate, and the sources do not report any action by Polanski on the motion after the vote.