Monday, October 19, 2026
Green leader doubles down on Zionism is racism policy
They add that Polanski did not attend the vote, prompting accusations of a lack of leadership, but he made clear he agreed with the broad thrust of it even if he felt it was unhelpful to have what he called a “debate about semantics”:
Asked by the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg whether he thought Zionism was racist, Polanski said: “I don’t think this is actually controversial.
“What’s controversial is that 75,000 Palestinians have been murdered in the last few years, including more child amputees than ever in modern history. So when you take that to account, the fact that they’re being murdered because they’re Palestinian – that’s very obviously a racist ideology.”
He added: “I think Zionism is racism in the practical application of it. Now the conference had a debate about the motion, about the word. I said I think debates about words are unhelpful, and I still think that.”
Asked whether he believed Israel had a right to exist, Polanski, who is Jewish, said: “I don’t think any state has a right to exist under international law,” adding that the idea of a two-state solution was “for the birds” given Israel’s opposition to it.
The Green leader also insisted he had no regrets about the way he had handled the recent controversy, despite criticism from some prominent Jewish Green members, including Vivien Lichtenstein, the head of the Jewish Greens.
“I’m not sorry at all,” he said. “Vivien is someone I’ve had respect for and do have respect for, and partly co-founded the Jewish Greens together … Actually, when the Jewish Greens were surveyed about this motion, a majority supported it.”
How this will go down with the Green MPs who regretted the passing of the motion and who believe that Polanski should have been there to speak against it, will have to be seen.
