Polanski heckled at by-election husting for condemning zionism

Jewish Voice for Liberation, however, praises the Green Party leader's stance and for showing that ‘Jews are not one homogeneous bloc’

Cost-Of-Living Crisis / 25 September 2026 Energy costs ‘crushing households’ as energy debt tops £5bn for first time, findings show 25 September 2026 Activism / 25 September 2026 Justice protesters to risk arrest at Labour conference 25 September 2026 Arms Trade / 25 September 2026 Britain's rigged and broken arms export policies have eviscerated international humanitarian law, campaigners say 25 September 2026 NHS Crisis / 25 September 2026 Patient groups decry ‘scandalous’ two-year minimum wait for ADHD and autism assessments 25 September 2026 Scotland / 25 September 2026 Unions furious after SNP-run council threatens to ‘fire and rehire’ 23,000 employees 25 September 2026 GREEN Party leader Zack Polanski was heckled for condemning zionism at a Holborn and St Pancras Jewish community hustings.

Mr Polanski, who is Jewish, declared himself anti-zionist at the event on Thursday night, and said that criticising the Israeli government and the occupation of Palestine was not antisemitic.

“We need to come together to recognise that when we call that antisemitic, we are making ourselves as Jewish people less safe,” he said.

He said that zionism was a form of racism because it involves the displacement and genocide of Palestinians.

The comments were met with boos from the audience.

Jewish Voice for Liberation’s (JVL) Richard Kuper said the Green Party has been vocal for years on Israel and the genocide in Gaza, adding: “As a Jewish member of the Green Party, I fully support Zack Polanski in both his affirmation of his personal anti-Zionism and in his recognition that Jewish communal institutions’ willingness to cry anti-semitism in the face of perfectly legitimate criticism of Israel’s actions and its apartheid regime, makes us all less safe as Jews.

“It is anti-semitic to conflate being Jewish with responsibility for Israel’s actions. Yet our communal institutions continually make this conflation when they claim that all Jews stand behind Israel in its genocidal war — behind what the Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis has called “our incredible, heroic soldiers” in Gaza.

“Jewish communal leaders made matters even worse by calling marches of solidarity with Palestinians ‘hate marches’. On the contrary: the ongoing presence of the Jewish Bloc on these marches is hugely important in combating anti-semitism by showing, in practice, that Jews are not one homogeneous bloc, standing united in support of Israel’s genocidal regime.”

JVL membership secretary Mike Cushman added: “Zack Polanski showed he is willing to defend his beliefs in front of an audience he knew would be hostile. This contrasts with the behaviour of his Labour opponent, Sagal Abdi-Wali, who failed to attend a hustings called by local Muslim groups and defend her denial of the genocide in Gaza.”

Mr Polanski is standing as a candidate in next month’s by-election after former prime minister Sir Keir Starmer announced he was stepping down as an MP.

Members of the Green Party are due to vote on a motion at its annual conference next week that would declare zionism a form of racism in official policy.

The motion calls for “a single democratic Palestinian state in all of historic Palestine with Jerusalem as its capital, equal rights for all, and the right of return for Palestinians and their descendants.”

It adds that the Palestinian people have the full right to “resistance and liberation from Israeli occupation, domination and subjugation” within international law.

Reports have emerged that Mr Polanski could back two amendments that would tone down the motion, which “push back on the call for a single Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital, and add safeguards for Jewish members who are part of groups that describe themselves as zionist.”

Politics / 25 September 2026 Holborn & St Pancras and the battle for the future of the left 25 September 2026 Zack Polanski is taking on Labour’s Sagal Abdi-Wali in a contest shaped by Gaza, housing and the fallout from Keir Starmer’s collapse. ANDREW MURRAY reports

Politics / 11 September 2026 Polanski accuses Labour of ‘running scared’ over Jackdaw drilling decision 11 September 2026 Politics / 3 September 2026 Polanski throws down gauntlet to Burnham 3 September 2026 Green Party leader confirms he is looking to fight Holborn and St Pancras by-election