Green Party leader Zack Polanski declared himself an anti-Zionist on Thursday night, becoming the first modern leader of a major British party to do so. Speaking at a Jewish hustings for the Holborn and St Pancras by-election, Polanski responded to a question about whether he was a Zionist by stating, “I’m an anti-Zionist, which I know is difficult for people in this room to hear… I think countries have always been ideas and I think things change over time.”
Polanski further elaborated that if Zionism is defined as the displacement and genocide of Palestinians, which he stated is how it has become in practice, then it is racist. He also asserted that many genocide scholars recognize Israel's actions in Gaza as genocide and that calling it such is not antisemitic. These remarks drew boos from the audience, with some members shouting, “It is, it is!” and one stating, “Genocide was coined for the Holocaust.”
Polanski, who is Jewish, argued that the Jewish community needs to come together to recognize when calling something antisemitic makes Jewish people less safe, and that conflating Jewish people with actions in Israel is dangerous. These final remarks received some applause.
Other candidates at the hustings, including Labour's Sagal Abdi-Wali, Liberal Democrat Patrick Stillman, Conservative Ewan Cameron, and Reform candidate Pete Newman, were asked if they were Zionists. Abdi-Wali responded by stating her belief in a two-state solution, while Stillman said yes, believing in a Jewish state and its right to exist. Cameron and Newman also confirmed they were Zionists.
Polanski's declaration led to audience members questioning where Jewish people would go and whether an anti-Zionist could be impartial.
