Green Party becomes first political party in Britain to declare Israel’s war in Gaza a GENOCIDE

09/10/2024 / By Kevin Hughes

The Green Party of England and Wales has become the first political party in the United Kingdom to declare Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip as genocide.

The party also announced its support for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement – a nonviolent resistance movement promoting economic actions against Israel – and for the total suspension of arms sales to Israel.

The party won four seats in the House of Commons in the last election on July 4 after making Gaza a notable platform of its campaign. The party’s recent motion, which was approved at the party’s annual conference on Sunday, Sept. 8, tagged Israel’s attack on Gaza as a genocide.

“We affirm our commitment to explicitly supporting BDS in our internal and external communications going forward. Supporting the BDS movement is essential to holding Israel accountable, to supporting Palestinians’ rights to equality and self-determination, and to demonstrate that our support, as a nation, is not performative,” the Green Party said in a statement.

The motion was suggested by an internal party group known as the Greens for Palestine. Mothin Ali, a Green Party councilor for the northern English city of Leeds and one of the party members who presented the motion, told the Middle East Eye that the Green Party has shown unprecedented leadership on the Gaza genocide issue.

“It’s absolutely crucial for all peace-loving people to do whatever is in their capacity to stop the killing [in Gaza. To truly work for peace, it’s absolutely essential to recognize the situation on the ground for what it is],” Ali said. “We knew that our party membership as well as the wider public supports the calls for a ceasefire and an end to genocide. It’s a very positive step that party policy is in alignment with the view of the membership, along with the wider public.”

The Greens have made themselves notable for leading the way in calling for an end to the violence in Gaza. Just days after the war broke out last year, the Green Party called for a ceasefire in opposition to the then-ruling Conservatives and the Labour Party, both of which backed Israel’s blockade and indiscriminate bombing of the Gaza Strip.

Aasiya Bora, secretary of the Muslim Greens, said in an interview with Middle East Eye that the party has “made history” by passing the Gaza motion. “Greens for Palestine, comprising passionate people from across the Green Party, have worked tirelessly for this and are beyond elated,” Bora said.

Green Party leaders slam Labour government’s “half-hearted” partial suspension of arms sales to Israel

Member of Parliament (MP) Adrian Ramsay, also the co-leader of Green Party, criticized the Labour government’s partial suspension of arms sales to Israel as “half-hearted.”

The government declared on Sept. 2 that it would stop 30 out of 350 arms export packages to Israel. (Related: Canadian government halts future arms sales to Israel in light of Israel’s ongoing genocide campaign against Gazans.)

On Sept. 7, Green Party Deputy Leader Zack Polanski echoed the criticism, saying: “We recognize peace just can’t happen until we end our own government’s complicity in violence. We must end further arms sales to Israel – and to all countries breaking international law.”

Meanwhile, the British Muslims who voted Green in the recent election and helped the party secure four new MPs have shown renewed enthusiasm at the party’s annual conference.

Even before the election last July, some British Muslims started losing trust in the Labour Party over its position on the Israel-Gaza war.

This anti-Labour sentiment inspired organizations like “The Muslim Vote” to try to direct votes away from major parties and toward candidates who could potentially serve the Muslim community better.

Follow Genocide.news for more stories about the ongoing genocide happening in Gaza.

Watch the video below about Middle East analyst Mouin Rabbani’s commentary regarding Western politicians being fundamentally racist toward Palestinians on the issue of the Gaza genocide.

This video is from the Puretrauma357 channel on Brighteon.com.