Labour candidate condemns Green Party's 'Zionism is racism' motion ahead of by-election
Labour's candidate in the Holborn and St Pancras by-election has condemned the Green Party for declaring that Zionism is a form of racism, as her record on the issue of Israel and Palestine comes under scrutiny.
Sagal Abdi-Wali criticised the motion, which Green members voted to make policy over the weekend, telling the Evening Standard on Tuesday: "It has been brought up to me by people literally at the school gates this morning, of how like divisive they found that motion and how worried they are by it.
"I think it's worrying for anyone who believes in a two-state solution."
Abdi-Wali's main rival in the by-election, which is set to take place this Thursday, is Green Party leader Zack Polanski.
According to an analysis by Tribune Magazine, Abdi-Wali did not publicly speak about Gaza "at any stage between October 7 2023 and her selection as Labour’s MP candidate. Repeated emails asking her to share letters or comments she has made have gone unanswered".
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Last month, however, she told the Guardian: "If Greens stir up community antagonisms over Gaza that would be disgraceful."
Abdi-Wali is the leader of the local Camden Council. The Palestine Solidarity Campaign found earlier this year that the council's pension fund held shares worth £104m ($137m) in companies it accused of being complicit in Israel's genocide in Gaza and occupation of Palestinian territory.
These companies included Israel's largest weapons manufacturer, Elbit Systems. Camden Council has repeatedly resisted calls for divestment from pro-Palestine activists.
Jewish Labour Movement
Abdi-Wali has previously appeared in promotional material published by the Jewish Labour Movement (JLM), a group linked to an Israeli organisation that has helped establish illegal settlements on occupied Palestinian territory.
Her chief whip in the council is Izzy Lenga, a vice chair of the JLM who has been photographed posing in an Israeli army uniform with an assault rifle. Jewish News reported in 2022 that Lenga had taken part in a basic training programme with the Israeli military.
The JLM is affiliated to the Labour Party and to the Zionist Federation UK (ZFUK), which is the UK affiliate of the World Zionist Organisation (WZO). The WZO has helped establish illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.
The JLM also says it organises "within" the WZO.
Lenga was previously the international officer on the JLM's national executive committee, "leading on the relationship with and engagement in Brit Etz (the World Labour Zionist Movement), our activity in the WZO and within the UK ZF", according to the group's website.
A BBC documentary in September 2024 revealed that the WZO’s Settlement Division, responsible for managing land in the occupied Palestinian territories, had "repeatedly allocated land on which outposts have been built".
It showed that in at least four cases, illegal Israeli outposts were built on land that the Settlement Division allocated.
International uproar
The Green Party triggered an international uproar by voting to declare Zionism a form of racism at its party conference in Brighton last weekend.
The vote by party members on Sunday makes it the first major party in the UK to recognise Zionism as a form of racism - and to back a single democratic Palestinian state with equal rights for all ethnic and religious groups, rather than a two-state solution.
The Israeli government responded immediately by banning Green Party’s leader Polanski (who is himself Jewish), from entering Israel, accusing the Greens of antisemitism.
The United States said it would make “representations” to the British government over the issue, suggesting it could amount to antisemitism.
The by-election in Holborn and St Pancras is due to take place on Thursday.
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