There’s no doubt that the political situation has changed with Burnham’s entry to Number 10. His attempt to win back voters who abandoned the party under Starmer appears to be having some success. The Greens are no longer within touching distance of overtaking Labour and monopolising the progressive vote. Our party therefore risks diminishing its relevance if we respond to Labour’s programme with a similar platform. We should not be offering ‘Burnhamism plus’. We should be presenting a radical alternative which draws clear dividing lines. Only then can we consolidate the support of the many people who have gravitated towards the Greens over the past year, and who want something fundamentally different to the establishment consensus. Our motion on Zionism does exactly that.
This might be a ‘minoritarian’ project in the short-term, in the sense that the Greens’ support base is currently only a minority of the population. But once we have energised and activated that base, then we can build out from it: creating a mass movement with opposition to racism and genocide at its core, which can speak to people up and down the country — and shift their politics to the left.
The aim is not simply to reflect back the opinions of ‘the majority’; this would be to embrace the dead-end politics of Starmerism, in which policy is decided through polling exercises and focus groups. Our ambition is to change people’s opinions by broadening the public debate: opening up the realm of political possibility and denouncing racism wherever it rears its head.
When a national party like the Greens adopts a position of this kind, it inevitably draws outrage from the media — but it also transforms the conversation by bringing new ideas into the mainstream. There are at least three immediate practical benefits.
First, by opposing Zionism outright we reject any complacency in light of Ed Miliband’s minor policy shift on Israel. We make clear that limited sanctions are not enough for a state that is intrinsically racist. Just as anti-racists in the 1980s did not merely oppose the ‘extreme’ elements of Apartheid South Africa, we cannot stop at sanctioning ‘illegal settlers’ today. Maintaining pressure on the British government is essential to save lives abroad and enforce accountability at home.
Second, as the Greens continue to face all manner of smear campaigns, we must make sure to resist capitulation. We know from the Corbyn era that attempts to appease the establishment and offer half-way compromises only make things worse, especially when it comes to bad-faith accusations of ‘antisemitism’ leveled at critics of Israel. The only option is to stand strong and refuse to apologise for our principles. By formally committing the Greens to anti-Zionism, we can help to embed this approach. Far from making the party vulnerable, ‘Zionism is Racism’ allows it to remain resolute when it is attacked.
Finally, by changing the narrative on Zionism, we can extend the gains of the Palestine movement. The mobilisation against the genocide has brought hundreds of thousands to the streets, propeled outsider candidates to parliament, thrown the two-party system into crisis and encouraged tens of thousands to join the Greens. The Labour government now wants us to think that a ceasefire is in place and that this movement can go away. But we must insist otherwise. Zionism continues to rampage across Gaza and the West Bank with Britain’s material support. By calling this project what it is, and demanding an end to its crimes, we can keep alive the spirit of opposition that has swept across our country over the past three years — and give it a permanent home in the Greens. This is not purity politics. It is a vital strategic step in building a left party that’s fit for purpose.