Proposed by Conservative councillor Hannah Galley and seconded by Labour's David Boothroyd, the text defines Zionism as the Jewish people's right to self-determination. It directly targets a decision made last month by the Green Party, which became the first major UK political group to classify Zionism as racist and advocate for a single state. The council has also been served with an independent legal warning asserting the measure could marginalise Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim communities under the Equality Act 2010.
Key points
The motion represents a cross-party pushback against the Green Party's conference decisio…: The motion represents a cross-party pushback against the Green Party's conference decision to define Zionism as a form of racism.
Labour recently severed formal cooperation with the Green Party across 11 local authoriti…: Labour recently severed formal cooperation with the Green Party across 11 local authorities in England over this dispute.
Opponents warn that officially endorsing the stance could unlawfully suppress legitimate…: Opponents warn that officially endorsing the stance could unlawfully suppress legitimate political speech and alienate Arab and Muslim residents.
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Conservative and Labour councillors are preparing to bring a joint motion to Westminster City Council declaring that “Zionism is not racism”.
The motion, which is set to be voted on by the full council on Wednesday evening, has been proposed in response to the Green Party’s motion, adopted last month, to declare Zionism a form of racism.
Wednesday’s joint motion by the Tories and Labour says that “Zionism, in its most widely understood sense, is the belief that the Jewish people have the right to national self-determination in their historic homeland.
“For a majority of British Jews, it forms part of their Jewish identity, although Jewish people hold a wide range of views about Zionism, the State of Israel and its government.”
The motion uses the controversial International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism, which has been partially disowned by its lead author, who said last week that it has become "poisoned" and that "most are using it to go after pro-Palestinian speech".
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