Polanski condemns Israel who condemns his condemnation

The Polanski-led Green Party will soon be voting on whether they should embed support for Palestinian resistance in their politics.

While Palestine is a distant country, it’s suffering is the direct result of actions taken by a close UK ally. Never mind Balfour, Britain’s ongoing involvement – from arms deals, bilateral trade, and media endorsements of Israel – means it’s responsible for the violence Palestinians experience daily.

Now, Israel has responded to the Green Party’s vocal opposition to its genocide in Gaza, condemning its leader. And its leader Zack Polanski has now let them know exactly what he thinks:

Anti-Zionism

As we reported on 28 January:

Pressure group Greens for Palestine is urging the Green Party to declare itself “an anti-Zionist party”. The group has issued a statement in support of a motion which it calls “groundbreaking”. The motion also supports the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement and calls for the de-proscription of Palestine Action.

The Green Party motion is ‘Motion A105: Zionism is Racism’, which calls for:

– The Green Party to declare itself an Anti-Zionist Party
– The Green Party rejects attempts to normalise the racist subjugation and oppression of Palestinians; to equate anti-Zionism with antisemitism; to deny or minimise Palestinian human rights; to create hierarchies of racism; and to normalise or attempt to justify apartheid, ethnic cleansing or genocide.
– To reject the IHRA and JDA definitions which have been weaponized to silence legitimate criticism of the state of Israel.
– Full Boycott and Divestment from Israel.
– The Green Party calls for the release of all Palestinian prisoners of conscience (including Marwan Barghouti)
– The Green Party to declare support for a single democratic Palestinian State with Jerusalem as its capital.
– The Green Party calls for the de-proscription of Palestine Action.
– The Green Party calls for the release of all political prisoners detained for non-violent direct action in support of Palestinian rights.

Independent journalist Matt Kennard has endorsed the motion:

The Zionist response

As reported by the Telegraph, Israeli foreign minister Sharren Haskel described the Greens’ proposal as “horrific”. They also called the Greens “a racist and hateful political party”, stating:

This Green Party motion is one of the most hateful and racist documents I’ve ever read. It calls for the destruction of Israel and seeks to justify terrorism against Israel.

Its intent is to justify the destruction of the Jewish homeland and deny the right of Jews to a national home. The double standards are extraordinary as they demand a national home for Palestinians but not Jews.

The other way to look at this is that the Greens aren’t calling for an end to Israel; they’re calling for an end to the Israel caging the Palestinians in an open air prison.

And as Polanski himself said, it’s hard to take the Israeli government seriously when we just watched them commit a genocide.

Featured image via the Canary