Green Party leader Zack Polanski has publicly confirmed that he is an “anti-Zionist”, that Zionism is a form of racism and that a genocide has occurred in Gaza at a pro-Israel hustings event on Thursday, sparking widespread praise among supporters and pro-Palestine activists.
Speaking at a Jewish hustings organised by the Board of Deputies of British Jews and the London Jewish Forum, Polanski clarified his position on the political ideology when asked about Zionism and the war on Gaza.
Candidates from all the major political parties running in the Holborn and St Pancras by-election were asked whether they considered themselves Zionists. Polanski answered: “I am an anti-Zionist, which I know is difficult for people to hear in this room.”
He later added that Zionism was a form of racism in his view.
“I think there’s a problem with definitions. It means different things to different people,” Polanski said. “If you’re defining Zionism as a displacement genocide, which is how, in practice, Zionism has become, then that is racism.”
The event, organised ahead of the 8 October by-election, was triggered by former Prime Minister Keir Starmer stepping down as the local MP.
Labour, the Liberal Democrats, Reform UK and the Conservative Party were also represented by their candidates at the event.
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The event, organised by pro-Israel Zionist groups, was packed with a crowd which clearly bitterly opposed Polanski over his pro-Palestine activism. However, Polanski defended his position passionately despite being heckled throughout the evening with spectators calling out “liar” and “shame on you.”
“Many genocide scholars around the world recognise it (Israel’s war on Gaza) as a genocide and calling it that is not antisemitic,” Polanski said.
“As a Jewish community, we need to come together and realise that when we call it antisemitic we are making ourselves less safe and we cannot hold people in Israel accountable when we conflate those two things.”
Polanski’s defence of anti-Zionism comes at a time when he is facing pressure from pro-Palestine factions within the Green Party over an anti-Zionism motion which will be voted on at the upcoming party conference in early October, days before the results are announced in the London by-election.
The motion seeks to establish a formal Green Party position opposing Zionism as a racist ideology and supports the creation of “a single democratic Palestinian State in all of historic Palestine.” Polanski has expressed criticism of the motion and has called for amendments to be made, sparking a row over his views on the issue.
However, his recent remarks at the hustings have received significant praise online, with people calling him “brave” and an “absolute legend.”
“Absolute legend Zack Polanski is!! History will laud him & damn those who supported or justified genocide, apartheid, Jewish supremacy and who endangered the Jewish community by conflating it with Israel and the POLITICAL IDEOLOGY of Zionism with Judaism. There is NOTHING more antisemitic then these conflations!”, posted Natalie Strecker on X.
Labour’s candidate surfaces
Labour’s candidate Sagal Abdi-Wali also made an appearance at the Zionist event just days after sparking local anger by snubbing a similar Muslim-led hustings in Camden on Tuesday.
Responding to the question “are you a Zionist?” Abdi-Wali, who is a Muslim woman of Somali decent, simply said: “I believe in a two-state solution.”
She was also reportedly asked about support for the proscription of Iran’s IRGC. Abdi-Wali called the group “a threat to our security,” and said it was “absolutely paramount that government steps up, and that security agencies have their process of looking into that and making sure that we’re protecting all of our communities and our country.” Adding: “I would just remind people it was the Labour government that proscribed the IRGC.”
The Labour candidate also reportedly spoke about her work on community cohesion as a council leader and encouraged better relationships between Muslim and Jewish communities during times of conflict.
She also mentioned her visits to South Hampstead United Synagogue, where she spoke warmly of Rabbi Shlomo Levin.
Her appearance at the Thursday hustings will have raised further questions about why she failed to show at a similar Muslim hustings event in Camden two days earlier.
The organisers of the event from the Camden Muslim Network (CMN) told 5Pillars that they had invited her five days in advance but were met with a cold response before eventually her aids declaring that Abdi-Wali was unavailable at the last minute.
Muhammad Chowdury of CMN said: “I don’t want to mince my words. Her absence from this event shows contempt for the Muslim community. We invited her five days ago. They came back with all sorts of comments like ‘oh, who are you?’ and ‘what do you want?’ They did all of that for four days then the night of the event they came back and said she has other commitments. To be blunt, what other commitments do they have and how could that be more important than addressing the most deprived and underprivileged community in this borough?”
The race intensifies
Latest polling and data currently put Labour candidate Abdi-Wali ahead of Green Party leader Polanski in the Holborn & St Pancras race, although no constituency-level poll has yet been published.
Polanski faces a clear uphill struggle to capture the seat, but the Greens have managed to pull off surprising successes already, such as in the Manchester by-election battle for Gorton and Denton in February.
The win came following a huge surge in support for the Greens among local Muslims who wanted to back a left-wing party in order to block Reform UK’s bid for the seat and to humiliate Labour by ousting them from a traditional stronghold.
Palestine, Labour’s support for Israel and their failure to properly confront the far-right were major reasons which convinced many Manchester Muslims to back the Greens.
Polanski appears to be trying to replicate the same success in London, maintaining the Gaza issue as a central focus of the campaign and releasing social media content in Urdu.
Labour, in contrast, appears to be insulating their candidate, avoiding any risky or challenging interviews or confrontations in the hope of avoiding a serious viral blunder which could scupper her lead. However, her seeming eagerness to appear at the pro-Israel hustings while snubbing a local Muslim event won’t have been well received by many Muslims in her constituency.
However, it is likely that Abdi-Wali will inspire support from the sizeable British-Somali community in the area who may be excited by the prospect of seeing a Somali woman being elected to Westminster.
