Ugly farce at spring conference

The Spring Conference of the Green Party of England and Wales (GPEW), held online on Saturday 28 March, discussed only two motions. One resulted in a setback on energy policy, with a more ambiguous position on nationalising parts of the energy industry.

A successful attempt by supporters of the motion “Zionism is Racism” (ZiR) to get it heard as the third priority did not matter, as technical issues and long bouts of fighting over the Standing Orders Committee report meant the conference ran out of time. The motion only got a two-minute proposing speech before the conference closed, with no vote taken.

Approximately 1,000 people were logged into the conference at various times, which seemed too many for the technology to handle the votes. Perhaps predictably, The Canary suggested an Israeli-coordinated conspiracy against the conference software.

The disputes with the Standing Orders Committee and numerous attempts to no-confidence chairs will be remembered for the very polarised atmosphere that pitted highly-motivated supporters of ZiR against a much smaller number of vocal opponents.

In successfully moving the motion up the agenda, its supporters were very clear. Many of them were online only to see the GPEW take this stance; they claimed it is vital for the Palestinians that the motion is passed; all attempts to stop it are from “Zionists” and people who refuse to say Israel is committing a genocide. Support for the motion is anti-racist, and all opposition means dismissing racism. How the Palestinians are helped by the Green Party denouncing as “racist” all Jewish people with a reflex (and however critical) sympathy with Israeli Jewish life, they didn’t say.

Squirmed

The leadership of the GPEW, which has squirmed around the issue, now has a few months before some version of it returns to the Autumn conference.

The speech against pushing ZiR up the agenda came from councillor Jo Bird, a one-time Corbynite Labour councillor in the Wirral and a former leading member of Jewish Voice for Labour. Her speech said the motion should not be discussed so that mediation and further consideration could take place and a new unifying motion be put forward in the autumn. That may well have had tacit leadership support.

Other committed “anti-Zionist” GPEW members have also urged caution. The Jewish Greens called to vote against.

Around 600 voters seemed to be ready to support the motion had it been heard. A significant proportion of people were only being galvanised around this motion. However, with the GPEW focus on local elections and the Together Alliance March on the same day, it’s hard to say exactly what the level of support would have been at a different conference.

Mediation

Supporters of an alternative “Peacebuilding in Israel Palestine” motion, which would get the GPEW to back forces, including Standing Together, who are fighting the occupation and the far-right Israeli government, from within Israel, should redouble efforts to have the political arguments against ZiR or whatever iteration makes it to the autumn conference on 2-4 October.

GPEW members should also now argue within their branches that the current model of individual members submitting, voting, and attending the conference is neither democratic nor laudable. Branches should adopt the routine of discussing motions, and a process should be put in place for their submission to the conference. A delegate in-person conference such as is common practice in the labour movement will not resolve the political issues, but it is vastly preferable to this farce.