Article by Andrew Feinstein republished from Open Democracy under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International licence. 

The Green Party’s ‘Zionism is Racism’ motion proves that uncompromising left-wing pressure is successfully shifting Labour’s stance on Gaza.

Taking aim at those campaigning against the genocide in Gaza, the new foreign secretary, Ed Miliband, declared at the Labour Party Conference: “You were right”. This acknowledgement followed a promise to “reset” the government’s stance on Israel, including taking bolder action on illegal settlements in the West Bank.

Many of us know this is not nearly enough – for instance, there has been no halting or slowing of arms exports to Israel – but it is, at least, a welcome change in rhetoric from that of the unflinchingly genocidal Starmer government. And it has only happened because there is now a substantial threat to Labour from the left: the Greens.  

The extent to which this threat has spread fear amongst the media and political establishment can be seen in the backlash against the Green Party’s ‘Zionism is Racism’ motion. No matter that the motion was voted in by rank-and-file party members through a democratic process – something that could never currently happen in the other major parties – it has been used by the right against Zack Polanski during the Holborn and St Pancras by-election. 

The Greens did not win the by-election, but they did well against an entrenched Labour Party machine in Camden. Indeed, they built on the work done by my independent campaign in 2024 to further eat away at the Labour majority. The cooperation between the Camden People’s Alliance and the Greens has confirmed that Holborn and St Pancras is no longer a safe Labour seat. We have proved that the tireless campaigning of local people, independents, small parties and groups working ecumenically can have a considerable electoral impact. 

Of course, the motion has created strategic difficulties for the Green Party, and an ideological distance has been created between a number of Green elected representatives, especially the MPs. This is the difficulty of a growing party, and one finding its place in the political landscape.

The Greens have engaged in an identity shift since Polanski was elected leader last year. Many ask whether the Greens should be a party focused exclusively on electoral gain, or primarily be a political megaphone? This is too simplistic an analysis.

The Green Party’s position on Palestine has reflected a wider debate in the country, which questions the validity of the Starmer government’s attitude to the genocide. The Greens are helping to push the new Labour government’s position further: the government’s rhetoric has changed, but the substance of the policy has not (yet). It is not an easy debate to have, but the debate around the motion has had an impact in shifting public opinion. The shift on the genocide mirrors debates around rent controls, wealth taxes and public ownership. 

What is clear is that as the public is repeatedly let down by the major political parties, politics continues to fluctuate. The political establishment knows this, but does not have a convincing answer to it. And so, they tried to use the ‘Zionism is Racism’ motion to smear Polanski as he stood in the key by-election in Holborn and St Pancras. 

The reality is that, as the only Jewish candidate, Polanski had already identified himself as anti-Zionist in a recent hustings held by the Board of Deputies of British Jews. This also resulted in a backlash, one which no doubt impacted who voted for him. In addition, there are some on the left who simply will not support the Greens, regardless of Polanski’s stance on the motion. 

All these factors make it difficult to predict how the current trajectory of the Green Party will express itself electorally, and what position it will occupy in the political landscape going forward. Of course, the focus on electoral gains has made many green parties across Europe part of the political establishment. Equally, concentrating on being only a “megaphone” does not go far enough to change the character of state power. I would like to see the emergence of a class politics which takes a national form – something that the Labour Party has historically claimed to do, but failed. Whether or not the Greens can succeed in fulfilling this aim is for time to tell. 

We must not forget that Zionism as a political project has been used to justify over a century of Palestinian dispossession and continues to underpin Israel’s genocide in Gaza today. What many people conveniently ignore (particularly the mainstream media and political establishment) is that anti-Zionism is as much, perhaps even more, a Jewish creation than Zionism. To label anti-Zionism as antisemitic is absurd, and intended to shut down meaningful debate about Israel’s indefensible conduct.

Whilst the Green Party establishes its position in British politics beyond a so-called minority party, it is worth remembering that political parties can have influence both within and outside of electoral politics. In fact, it is essential to do both. Capitulating to the current status quo on what is deemed politically “acceptable” is not going to bring about the systemic change that is needed. A parliamentary democracy should respond to voters, not speak to itself and suppress debate. 

Whatever your thoughts on the ‘Zionism is Racism’ motion, we have to accept that democracy can be uncomfortable, and these discomforts are a necessary part of progress and of the democratic process itself.

Andrew Feinstein was the Independent Candidate for Holborn and St Pancras constituency in the 2024 General Election. He is Executive Director of Shadow World Investigations and has a new book out, ‘Making a Killing: How the West Profits from Slaughter in Gaza and Yemen’. He is a member of Camden People’s Alliance. 

Article by Andrew Feinstein republished from Open Democracy under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International licence. 

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