Polanski is pissing off all the right people

Over the weekend, the Canary has followed an ongoing feud between former Daily Mail showbusiness editor Nicole Lampert and Green leader Zack Polanski.

It’s over Lampert’s recent Mail article claiming to have interviewed Polanski’s family members, which ran with the headline:

Zack Polanski is facing rebellion from his OWN family as they fear being forced to leave UK if Green Party leader becomes Prime Minister

Normally, Polanski seems quite happy to face the slings and arrows of the right-wing media with a smile. However, the Mail’s claims of poking around his family have been three steps too far.

Polanski: ‘all refused to talk to you’

On 29 March, the Green leader tweeted:

The Mail claimed to have spoken to three members of Polanski’s “extended family”. Of course, these family members are anonymous. However, they have Nicole Lampert’s journalistic seal of approval.

That counts for a lot – we know Lampert goes so far to guarantee her stories that she’s embroiled in an ongoing phone-hacking court case. Allegedly, not even the law or basic human decency can stop her in pursuit of the truth.

100% extended, 100% family, 100% definitely real

That established, one bona fide extended relative said:

He’s currently the leader of the future Islamic party of Britain, that’s what the Green Party is fast becoming. And there would be no place for Jews in an Islamic state of Britain.’

On the words “Islamic state”, the Mail helpfully linked to its page on ISIS. So, you know, they definitely don’t have an agenda there.

A separate anonymous relative, guaranteed by the Mail’s exacting editorial standards, said that:

If the Zionism-is-racism motion is passed it will make the Greens the most anti-Semitic party in British history since Oswald Mosley’s British Union of Fascists. The idea of it is one of the most sickening things I’ve heard in a long time.

It’s somewhat remarkable that the definitely real family member is happy to denounce Polanski in the Daily Mail here, given that the rag actually supported the British Union of Fascists. 

A third family member said:

The mad thing is that he’s gay, he’s Jewish but he’s cosying up to people whose ideology is the complete antithesis of everything that he’s supposed to stand for. It’s like he’s a chicken, telling us to vote for KFC.

Quite apart from the antisemitic notion that all Jewish people must support Israel, this is textbook pinkwashing. Unless, that is, Israel is suddenly taking care not to genocide all of the gay Palestinians along with the straight ones.

Stop the Hate UK

In the tweet Polanski quoted, Lampert was herself quoting the nebulous organisation ‘Stop the Hate UK’ (StHUK):

Note that StHUK manages to remember that Lampert is Jewish, but conveniently forgets that Polanski is also Jewish. Understandable, given that he’s the only Jewish leader of a major political party in the UK.

As the Canary’s Hannah Sharland previously wrote, StHUK first emerged in early 2024. Its twitter profile shows that the group registered an account in April 2024, when it immediately began posting graphics with counter-protest callouts against Palestine marches.

The group’s co-founder, Itai Galmudy, appears to have been coordinating counter-demos, though under a different name – Enough Is Enough – since at least March 2024.

Likewise, it appears that it’s Galmudy who’s been front and centre of Zionist instigators colluding with the Met to get pro-Palestine activists arrested. He’s reportedly a former IDF soldier, who served during the 2014 attacks on Gaza.

So we’re sure he’s posting about Polanski from a place of good faith.

Bring it on

However, in spite of the condemnation of his definitely non-fictional family members, Polanski remains buoyant:

And, just to hammer the point home:

The UK public are increasingly bored of this song and dance. It’s clear that the right-wing establishment are rattled at the Green’s success – and they’re throwing anything at the wall to see what sticks.

As always, if the Daily Mail hate you, it’s a sure sign you’re doing something right.

Featured image via the Canary