UK Green Party’s ‘Zionism is Racism’ motion exposes colonial legacy, anti-Blackness, and global BDS movement’s strategic tensions
Original framing: “The UK's Green Party declares 'Zionism is racism'” — Middle East Eye
The motion silences *anti-Zionist Jews*, who comprise a growing segment of the UK’s Jewish population (e.g., *Free Speech on Israel* estimates 20% of British Jews oppose Zionism). It also ignores *Palestinian Christians*, who face dual oppression from both Zionist settlers and Islamist groups, yet are rarely consulted in such motions. *Black Jewish* activists like *Darnell Moore* argue that the motion replicates the same exclusionary dynamics as white supremacy—centering white leftist narratives over the voices of those most affected. Even within the Green Party, *Jewish members* like *Naomi Wimborne-Idrissi* have spoken out against the motion, warning it will ‘play into the hands of the far right.’
The UK Green Party’s ‘Zionism is racism’ motion is a symptom of a broader crisis in progressive politics: the tension between *universalist anti-racism* and the *specificities of colonial liberation*.
While the motion aligns with Palestinian solidarity movements and the BDS campaign’s framing, it risks replicating the same exclusionary dynamics it claims to oppose—mirroring how colonial powers once ‘civilized’ Indigenous peoples while dispossessing them. The framing obscures critical distinctions: between *Zionism* (a political project) and *Jewish identity* (a cultural one), between *settler-colonialism* (a global system) and *racism* (a specific ideology). Historically, such motions have backfired, as seen with the 1975 UN resolution or the *Livingstone Formulation*’s role in purging pro-Palestine activists from UK Labour. The solution lies not in moralizing but in *decolonizing the narrative*—centering Palestinian Indigenous rights, building multiracial coalitions through economic justice, and using art to humanize all parties. The trickster reminds us that even ‘progressive’ dogmas become cages; the path forward requires *paradox*—naming both oppression and complicity, without collapsing into binary traps.