Rachel Millward “certainly wouldn’t” vote for unamended Zionism is Racism motion
"The motion in its unamended form is problematic"
One of the Green Party’s two deputy leaders Rachel Millward has said she won’t be voting for the controversial ‘Zionism is Racism’ motion being debated at the Green Party conference this weekend if it isn’t amended.
The motion in question reads: “The real, material manifestation of Zionism has been the historic and ongoing dehumanisation, displacement, dispossession, disenfranchisement and destruction of Palestinians. This is based upon European settler-colonial systems of domination and oppression, which has also created racial hierarchies between Jews of different ethnicities in Palestine.”
Millward made the comments to Sky News in a broadcast round in advance of the party’s conference opening today (Friday 2 October).
She said: “The motion in its unamended form is problematic, I think. I certainly wouldn’t be voting for that. There are amendments that are coming through. There’ll be a debate. There are people on all sides with different opinions. We’ll have to see what happens.”
Millward didn’t specify which amendments she will be supporting. However, her party’s leader Zack Polanski has said that he wants to see two amendments to the motion adopted. The first would ensure that party members who attend synagogues affiliated to Jewish denominations that describe themselves as Zionist don’t face disciplinary action for that.
It seeks to add the following text to the motion: “This motion shall not be used to pressure, proscribe or discipline members based on affiliation with Jewish community institutions, such as synagogues, community centres or denominational groups, that describe themselves as Zionist”.
Polanski has also indicated that he supports an amendment to the motion which would ensure that the party doesn’t explicitly endorse a ‘one-state solution’. The amendment would replace that endorsement with text that reads: “The Green Party believes that the form and process of this settlement should be shaped and determined by Palestinians themselves however they see fit, based on the principle of Palestinian self-determination”.
Millward also told Sky: “I think what’s fair to say is there’s a lot of different opinions around this motion. Some people think that it focuses more on semantics, on definitions and what we need to be doing is staying where we’re really united.”
A vote is expected to be taken on the motion on Sunday.
Chris Jarvis is head of strategy and development at Left Foot Forward
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