Waltham Forest's council leader says a national Green Party motion declaring that Zionism is racist will have "no impact" on the council. Labour and Conservative councillors criticised the motion at a full council meeting.
Earlier this month, at its annual conference in Brighton, the Green Party of England and Wales passed a controversial motion declaring that Zionism (support for a Jewish state in Palestine) is racist. The Equality and Human Rights Commission, the equality watchdog, is now reviewing it.
Senior councillors were questioned about it at the full council meeting on Thursday 22 October.
What the leader said
Councillor Paul Perkins, who has led the Green-run council 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. He added that this 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 also said it was important for politicians to tell the difference between a view on Zionism and antisemitism.
Concerns from the opposition
Labour group leader Kizzy Gardiner told the chamber that "deeply concerned" Jewish residents had contacted her party. She said they were worried about what the motion meant for their "safety and ability to practice their faith".
Conservative councillor Catherine Saumarez, who represents Larkswood ward in the north of the borough, said Jewish residents in her ward were "terrified".
She asked Councillor Charlotte Lafferty, the cabinet member for community safety, to "repudiate" the motion. Cllr Lafferty, who represents Grove Green, said she would prefer to "answer after the meeting" because the issue "needs the attention it deserves".
About the motion
The motion 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".
It was written by Lubna Speitan, a British-Palestinian artist who holds no official role in the party. 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 will remain Green Party policy until 2028 at the earliest.
