Amid criticism from Labour and the Conservatives, Waltham Forest Council leader Paul Perkins said a motion recently passed at the Green Party’s national conference would have “no impact” on how the town hall carries out its duties to residents, reports Sebastian Mann, Local Democracy Reporter
A national Green Party motion declaring that Zionism is a racist belief will have “no impact” on Waltham Forest Council, the leader says, amid cross-party criticism from Labour and the Conservatives.
Earlier this month, the Green Party of England and Wales controversially passed a motion declaring Zionism – support for a Jewish state in Palestine – as racist, at its annual national conference which was held in Brighton.
It is currently under review by the equality watchdog, Equality and Human Rights Commission, and top Waltham Forest councillors were pressed on the issue at a full council meeting last night (22nd October).
Councillor Paul Perkins, council leader since May, said the motion had “no impact on or the capacity to impact local policy”.
He said it “did not relate” to the council’s own policies, which he said was “not a comment on the motion itself but a reassurance to Jewish residents and anyone else that we continue to stand against antisemitism, Islamophobia and all forms of racism”.
He added that it was important for politicians to differentiate between a view on Zionism and antisemitism.
Labour group leader Kizzy Gardiner told the chamber the party had been contacted by “deeply concerned” Jewish residents, who worried about what it meant for their “safety and ability to practice their faith”.
Conservative councillor Catherine Saumarez, who represents Larkswood in the north of the borough, said Jewish residents in her ward were “terrified”.
She called on councillor Charlotte Lafferty, the cabinet member for community safety, to “repudiate” the Greens’ motion, but the Grove Green representative said she would prefer to “answer after the meeting” as it “needs the attention it deserves”.
Green Party leader Zack Polanski – who recently lost a by-election in Holborn and St Pancras to Labour – called the motion “imperfect” and said he would not have voted for it.
It describes Zionism as an ideology that supports “an ethnonationalist Jewish state in historic Palestine to the exclusion and/or domination of the non-Jewish population”.
The motion was authored by Lubna Speitan, a British-Palestinian artist who does not hold an official title in the party.
It will remain Green Party policy until 2028 at the earliest.
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