The councillors who backed the racist motion
Cllr Al Al-Maghrabi
Frome Vale ward, Bristol
Signed the motion as Alsayed Al-Maghrabi
In the printed list of supporters of the autumn 2026 version (E02), the version that passed
Councillor Al Al-Maghrabi put their name to the motion "Zionism is Racism" as a supporter, in the printed list of supporters of its autumn 2026 version (E02), the version that passed. The motion, passed on 4 October 2026, declares that the belief held by most British Jews is racism and binds the party to treat it "as any other form of racism".
Zionism is not racism. It is the belief that Jews have a right to a homeland in their ancestral land, held by around nine in ten British Jews. UK law recognises Jewish people as an ethnic group protected by the Equality Act 2010. An elected councillor who signs up to calling that belief racism has made a statement about the Jewish residents of Frome Vale, Bristol, and they deserve a reply.
In the motion's own words
What Al Al-Maghrabi put their name to
Every passage below is quoted word for word from the motion as published by its proposers. The page number opens that page of the PDF. Open "What this means" under any passage for its effect in practice.
“an apartheid regime between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, designed to cement the supremacy of one group, Jews, over another, Palestinians. As such, Zionism is racist.”
What this means
It defines Zionism as apartheid and supremacy, so anyone who believes Jewish people have a right to a state of their own is, by the party's own definition, a racist. Most British Jews hold that belief. The motion does not argue with them; it labels them.
“The Green Party declares itself to be an anti-Zionist party.”
What this means
A party commits itself, as policy, to opposing the national movement of one people only. No other people's right to a state is opposed by Green Party policy. That is the singling out that the Equality Act's protection of Jews as an ethnic group exists to prevent.
“Zionism, as defined above, will be treated as any other form of racism, and this motion will be implemented by the Anti-Racism Policy Working Group as appropriate and in accordance with its ordinary practice.”
What this means
This is the enforcement clause. The party's anti-racism and disciplinary machinery now applies to Zionism, so a member, a councillor or a candidate who says Jewish people have a right to a homeland can be dealt with as a racist. It is the line that drove the first councillors out within days.
“With this we reject the adoption or use in frameworks of the non-legally binding IHRA and JDA definitions of antisemitism (or alike), which have been weaponised to silence legitimate criticisms of the actions of the state of Israel.”
What this means
The IHRA definition is the one adopted by the UK government, the Crown Prosecution Service, the police, many councils and universities, and the representative bodies of the Jewish community. The JDA was written by scholars as a more cautious alternative. Rejecting both, as "weaponised", leaves the party refusing every accepted description of antisemitism except its own.
“the Green Party supports the establishment of a single democratic Palestinian State in all of historic Palestine with Jerusalem as its capital”
What this means
"All of historic Palestine" includes every part of Israel. This is a call for the only Jewish-majority state in the world to cease to exist, not for two states side by side, which has been the policy of the UK government and of every major UK party for decades.
“The right of peoples’ under colonial domination, alien subjugation, apartheid and racist regimes to resist, including through armed struggle, is affirmed in multiple UN instruments”
What this means
The briefing spells out that "all available means" includes armed struggle, and its final reference is an article making the case for Hamas. This is a party whose philosophical basis commits it to non-violence.
“The Green Party calls for the removal of Palestine Action from the list of proscribed organisations in Schedule 2 to the Terrorism Act 2000 (i.e. de-proscription).”
What this means
Palestine Action was proscribed by Parliament in July 2025 after its members broke into RAF Brize Norton and damaged military aircraft. The motion asks the party to campaign for a proscribed organisation to be taken off the terrorism list.
Cllr Al-Maghrabi, changed your mind? Any Green councillor who backed the motion can put it right in a minute: sign the pledge with your council email, and this page stops asking people to email you the same day.
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The other councillors who backed it Email head office Read the motion, line by line