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LONDON: Britain\u2019s Green Party voted on Sunday to class Zionism as a \u200cform of racism, drawing criticism from British Jews and from the Israeli government which said it now viewed the party as \u201ca body that gives legitimacy to terrorism\u201d.<\/strong><\/p>\n The party \u2013 which received 6% of the vote in national elections in 2024 \u2013 said it regarded Zionism as \u201can ethnonationalist \u200bpolitical project\u201d and repeated its call for Britain\u2019s Labour government to end all arms trade with Israel.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe \u200bmotion also restates the Green Party\u2019s backing for the right to self-determination and calls for \u2060the establishment of a single democratic state throughout historic Palestine,\u201d the party said in a statement.<\/span><\/p>\n The definition of Zionism \u2013 \u200bwhich inspired the foundation of the modern state of Israel in the 20th century \u2013 and what it implies for the \u200brights of non-Jews in Israel and neighbouring territory, is contentious. Jewish groups sometimes define it as a right to Jewish self-determination.<\/span><\/p>\n The Green Party motion passed by a majority of 1,022 to 813 despite opposition from many senior figures. Party leader Zack Polanski, who is seeking \u200belection to Parliament on Thursday in former Prime Minister Keir Starmer\u2019s now-vacant London constituency, did not vote.<\/span><\/p>\n The result was \u200bcondemned by British Jewish groups.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe Green Party has made antisemitism party policy and become a racist party,\u201d the Movement for Progressive Judaism \u200csaid, \u2060adding that the support of some Jews for the motion did not mean it would not be used to discriminate against others.<\/span><\/p>\n Mothin Ali, deputy leader of the Green Party and a supporter of the motion, told Sky News on Saturday that the heavy Palestinian death toll in Israel\u2019s conflict with Hamas \u2013 which followed the Palestinian resistant group\u2019s 2023 \u200battack on an Israeli music \u200bfestival \u2013 was the key \u2060context for the vote.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe motion defines Zionism quite clearly. It defines it as an ethnonationalist movement. It defines it as ethnic cleansing. It defines it as genocide,\u201d Ali said.<\/span><\/p>\n Britain\u2019s government \u200bviews Israeli settlers\u2019 actions in the West Bank as amounting to ethnic cleansing but has \u200bsaid courts \u2060must decide if other Israeli actions qualify as genocide.<\/span><\/p>\n Israel \u2013 which rejects claims of ethnic cleansing and genocide \u2013 called on Sunday for other British political parties to condemn the Green Party vote. \u201cThe Greens have adopted not only the green of Hamas, but \u2060also its \u200bideology: the elimination of the State of Israel through armed struggle,\u201d it \u200bsaid.<\/span><\/p>\n