I don’t know about you, but I find it rather irritating when some ‘patriot’ (sic) with a flag tells me what it means to be English.

I find it similarly galling to have explained to me what Zionism means and how it relates to my Judaism. These helpful Greens give me their definition of Zionism and tell me that it’s racist – but it’s ok, because there are plenty of ‘good’ Jews who are anti-Zionists.

But I still choose to call myself a Zionist.  And because Zionism, while not meaning the same as Judaism is deeply entwined with Judaism, I feel I have the right to define what I mean by it.

Every year, at my family seder and at millions of seders around the world, we Jews conclude with the words “next year in Jerusalem!”  For me, Jerusalem is a symbol of peace and belonging, for others – and imagine those who said it in the depths of the pogroms or it the Nazi camps – it may be a more literal aspiration for freedom and safety.

Zionism developed as a political movement towards the end of 19th century at a time whenwhat it meant to be a nation state was still under development.   In much of the world the artificial lines that divide countries were yet to be drawn.  In Europe, where the first Zionist congress was held in 1897, the map bore little resemblance to one that we might see today.   Those first Zionists were simply saying – as others around the world began to find a national as well as an ethic, religious or racial identity which they believed entitled them to a place to call home – that Jews too could share the same ambition.

And they looked to the land which had not just been a millennium long echo in their religious ceremonies and their holy book, but a continuous home to many Jews throughout the centuries, living in Jerusalem and Tzfat and elsewhere.  So, for them and for me, Zionism isthe national liberation movement of the Jewish people.

Now, I understand that international Marxism does not accept the idea of national borders, but for those that believe that the English and the French and the Americans and the Chinese have a right to their own nation state it makes no sense to argue that, uniquely, the Jews don’t and, furthermore, that even that aspiration is racist.

The Green party motion calls for the ‘end of Israel’.  It says Israel – not its Government,which I detest, nor its courts which have done much to hold that Government in check, nor its media which can sometimes be as critical of that government as the Guardian and the BBC – but the very country itself, Israel, has no right to exist.

This is a country which, in its Declaration of Independence, commits that it will “promote the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants; will be based on precepts of liberty, justice and peace taught by the Hebrew prophets; will uphold the full social and political equality of all its citizens without distinction of race, creed or sex; will guarantee full freedom of conscience, worship, education and culture; will safeguard the sanctity and inviolability of shrines and holy places of all religions; and will dedicate itself to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations.”

Has Israel lived up to such lofty ambitions?  Hardly, although all those living within its internationally recognised borders do at least in theory have full equality under the law and all have the right to vote.  Furthermore, it is the only country in the Middle East which offers full and equal legal rights and anti-discrimination laws to protect women and gay people.   Inconveniently, for its opponents, Arab parties are represented in the Knesset, its Parliament,and some Arab citizens even serve in the IDF.

The conduct of the war in Gaza, the treatment of the Arab population of the occupied territories, the discrimination in property rights, some of the security measures, and the outrageous, offensive and racist acts and comments of some of its Ministers and its current Prime Minister bring the country into disrepute.  The failure after the ’67 war to make peace with its neighbours, dispose of Gaza and the West Bank, and to recognise the shared right of Palestinians to national, self-determination are all huge stains on the country’s stated values (although of course it does take two to make peace).

But this weekend’s motion – while no doubt fuelled by such injustices – did not call for their correction or for the Israeli Government to be overthrown or for a Palestinian state to be established alongside Israel, but for the destruction of the country and the establishment of a single state in the whole of historic Palestine.  Jordan, of course, which comprised roughly half the area of the original Palestine Mandate, might have something to say about that, but then this is a policy founded not on historical understanding, but dogma: a dogma that says even in the aftermath of apartheid South Africa had the right to exist, even Rwanda after the genocide or Cambodia or the newly minted South Sudan all are entitled to be recognised as legal entities, but uniquely, this land – the size of Wales and home to 10 million people, 8 million of them Jews – this country and its government has forfeited its very right to existence.

I know there are some within our party who will agree with the Greens and they are entitled to form their own views of the relationship between Judaism and Zionism, but to them I say don’t kid yourself that only your definition of Zionism can be true, that you know better thanJews what Zionism is.

When our council groups decide whom they can work with in local government I’d ask them to consider whether those who say “Zionism is racism” are doing anything to make the people of Palestine any better off, and whether Jews in Britain might legitimately feel just that little bit less secure as a result.  They should ask whether such potential partners might be displaying double standards, what we should understand by their desire to identify racism in others, and if this makes them possible partners for Lib Dems in Government.

* Ben Rich is Chief Executive of Radix, the radical centre think tank. From 1992-95 he was Lib Dem Deputy Policy Director and from 1997-2001 Vice Chair of the Federal Policy Committee. He was Tim Farron’s Leadership Campaign Director and his interim chief of staff from 2015-16 and senior adviser to the Lib Dem Business & Entrepreneurs Network until December 2019.