Tag Archives: zionism

Kobe Bibbon

Will the real Green party that cared about people and planet please stand up?

By Kobe Bibbon | Thu 8th October 2026 - 3:03 pm

One of the values that attracted me and so many of us to the Liberal Democrats is our fundamental belief in personal freedom: that everyone should be free to live their life how they choose, as long as they don’t hurt anybody else. That principle is why I’m writing this today.

On the very same week as the one-year anniversary of the horrific attack on worshippers at Heaton Park Synagogue, the Green Party conference chose to pass a motion telling people they are wrong for how they choose to live their lives. Worse still, they voted against an amendment that sought to protect Jewish members.

Regardless of people’s views on Zionism, nobody and no political party should be telling anybody else how to live their life, nor should they condemn them for doing so.

We are all sickened to see what is happening in Gaza- there is no doubt about that. These horrendous actions are being carried out by the Israeli government and the Israeli government alone- they are not the actions of our Jewish community, who just want to live their lives free from fear or hate. The Greens must recognise this distinction.

We have seen how this dangerous behaviour ends before. We have seen the Labour Party go down this toxic path not so long ago. We called it out for what it was then, and we must not hesitate to do so now. While naturally we don’t want our political opponents to succeed at the ballot box, we very much want to see them succeed in ridding their ranks of the poison that we saw under Labour in the Corbyn era.

For the values that we hold dear and the society we want to build, it is imperative for all of us that we eradicate this division and fear from our politics, whether left, centre, or right.

This is why I believe the Greens should be investigated by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC). This isn’t about wishing to see the demise of political opponents or point-scoring; it is about ensuring that our democracy succeeds as a safe and inclusive space for everybody, no matter their story or background.

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged | 8 Comments
Mark Valladares

Welcome to my day: 5 October 2026 – it’s beginning to feel a lot like AGM season…

By Mark Valladares | Mon 5th October 2026 - 7:30 am

For those of us who have been officers of Local Parties, Associated Organisations or any of the other myriad bodies across the Party who hold elections, this is the time of year when things change, and the cycle of persuading people to hold the positions that keep the show on the road begins anew.

But as someone who hasn’t been perhaps as active as in years past, I can now be a bit more relaxed. People don’t necessarily ask me to be things, they ask me to run their elections instead. And that reminds me that the Party relies on a cadre of people who are often filling a variety of roles alongside holding public office, careers, caring responsibilities, other voluntary roles, you name it, they do it. We often don’t value our volunteers sufficiently and, as a result, lose valuable skills and experience.

In a world where political parties are more regulated than ever before, having serious people holding critical roles is more important than ever before because, whilst getting people elected is at the core of a political party’s purpose, somebody has to keep the organisational, financial and campaigning show that supports that on the road.

That’s not the Green Party I remember…

In itself, the decision by Green Party members to endorse the idea that Zionism is racism probably wouldn’t make much of an impression on the British electorate. If you asked most people to define Zionism, they’d probably associate it with Judaism but not be able to explain why or what the difference is.

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , , , and | 11 Comments
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Recent Comments

  • David Blake
    I agree with much of what Richard Cripps says - and I've been a member for 54 years. If I wasn't already a member I'm not sure that what the party has become w...
  • Richard Dickson
    Thanks for this. Kindness - to people, businesses, whole communities, our environment and to nature, to our past, present and future - requires us also to be br...
  • Richard Cripps
    I've been a Lib/Lib Dem voter for 50 years. However, I'm finding it more and more difficult to justify this to friends and family (snd sometimes even myself) as...
  • Steve Trevethan
    P. S. Here is an article from the current edition of "Counterpunch" which may be of relevance and/or interest. https://www.counterpunch.org/2026/10/23/france...
  • Steve Trevethan
    Thank you for a most incisive article which, so precisely, presents the cruelty and greed of Neolibealim. Would that the L.D Party renounced and denounced Ne...