Zack Polanski replies to his critics
JVL Introduction
Zack Polanski has had a torrid week.
Not unexpectedly, but nevertheless disappointingly, he lost the by-election to replace Keir Starmer in Holborn & St Pancras. We all hoped for another triumph as at Denton and Gorton but Starmer’s demise – a direct result of that defeat – and his replacement by Andy Burnham has given Labour a new lease of life. We suspect the Burnham bounce will be short-loved.
Furthermore, Polanski is at the epicentre of a row being called out for not expressing his reservations about the Green Party’s motion “Zionism is Racism” more forcefully, before it was passed at its conference the Sunday before the by-election.
We have already expressed our solidarity with the Green Party against the barrage of criticism it received from a hostile media.
Here Polanski replies to his critics. As usual he does not duck difficult questions but answers them head-on.
This article was originally published by the Guardian on Sun 11 Oct 2026. Read the original here.
Yes, it’s been a tough week for the Greens: but don’t lose sight of how we’re transforming British politics
We must now have unity and a discussion about party democracy. And let me be clear: as leader, I will never tolerate antisemitism
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Wasn’t Zack/Greens previously adopters of the IHRA definition of antisemitism and wasn’t Zack once a promoter of the smears against Jeremy Corbyn ? Furthermore, isn’t the Green Party pro NATO and pro Ukraine ? How can you claim to support Palestine but basically be pro imperialist ?
In 1978 Vanessa Redgrave gave her acceptance speech after winning the academy award for best actress in Julia. In that speech she referenced ‘zionists hoodlums’. This was regarding the bombing at the Doheny Plaza which was showing ‘The Palestinian’ which was produced by Vanessa Redgrave. She faced such a vitriolic backlash from pro-zionists groups.
A couple of months after the bombing a minor was ‘convicted’ who was part of the Jewish Defence Leagues and given 3 months ‘thorough psychological evaluation’
Years later when Vanessa was asked about her speech she stated she had no regrets.
When the New York Workshop cancelled Alan Rickman’s production ‘My Name is Rachel Corrie’, again she came out in support of him and his production.
Always it has been from pro-israel groups and its supporters that bemoan antisemitism the it comes to support for Palestine.
I would say Zak has been brave. The backlash tremendous. Legacy media want to control the narrative. He has gone against habit and routine. This is a man who has stated he has grown up in a zionist household, our upbringing in not an indicator of what our thinking will be when we mature.
The telegraph printed a caricature of his deputy which is racist and propagates muslims as terrorists. It shows how racist ideology exist in media and how they weaponise it. In some European settlers that mentality of savages is inbred in their thinking along with a lack of education.
When Einstein , Arned tand many other Jewish Scholars wrote a letter to The New York Times in response to the Deir Yassin Massacre they described it Begin’s party as -‘Nazi, fascists, terrorists right wing’.
I guess legacy media would have crucified these academics !
Lastly I would implore people to reason, ask questions, seek the evidence rather than mutely rely on legacy media
[cut to our limit of 300 words – admin]
Thank you, Zack, that is all clear and concise.
I like this bit, quote:- “I believe it is not up to the British government … to decide the future for Israelis and Palestinians.”
Quite so, but sadly let us remember that it was exactly that error, i.e. the imposition of successive British governments’ decision-making over the future of Palestine, post WW1, that has bequeathed to the world the tragic Middle East conflict we have watched for 80 years.
Learn from the fate of Jeremy Corbyn. If you don’t fight these slurs, they will drown you.
I agree that a conference, such as that of the Green Party, which is composed of those who have the time, money and energy to attend, has a serious democratic deficit. However, I’m concerned about the suggestion that ‘leaders’ should be given “more responsibility to set the party’s strategic direction”. This seems to imply that the Green ‘leaders’ (sic) would have the power to ignore a decision of a democratically–constituted conference with which they disagreed. Such a power would give a power of veto over policy to an elite within the party – hardly a democratic move. Such powers have been used by elites within the Labour Party time and time again to ignore progressive and radical decisions by its conference – with the results that we see today: a Labour Party dominated by conformists, careerists, and reactionaries
The Green Party Conference was open to all members by either attending the conference directly (which I agree is reletively expensive for many) OR by joining and voting on line (a cheap and accessible option).
There were no barriers to full participation, except a small fee to join on line (and there were exemptions from this if applied for).
In my experience this was the most exciting, friendly, open and democratic conference I have ever attended. And I’ve attended a few conferences of one kind or another over the years.
good on Zack do not try to do what Corbyn tried confront do not give way is the only with these monsters in MSM BBC or where ever.
Caroline Lucas was keen to let the general public know that only 0.5% of the membership voted the motion through, as she did on Newsnight last week, and in The Observer at the weekend:
“It cannot be right that 0.5% of the membership – 1,022 people, some of whom were encouraged to join the party simply to push this motion through – can set such a major policy change on behalf of so many others,” she told The Observer.
https://observer.co.uk/news/politics/article/greens-face-existential-threat-as-membership-plummets-after-anti-zionist-motion
But this Opinium poll (for The Observer), conducted on the 7-9 October, shows that 81% of the membership supported the motion, and 19% opposed it (and even when Undecided are included, it’s 56% support, 13% oppose):
https://x.com/LeftieStats/status/2109576006977875999
The Observer mentions a number of stats from the poll in the above article, but it doesn’t mention the 81% support for the motion by GP members. I wonder why not!
And I think we can safely assume that the rest of the MSM blanked it as well, and much prefer the 0.5% stat.
It’s a good reply, but (sadly) stating his case and then moving on isn’t going to be enough. Polanski will need to do more if the media consensus that’s become established in the last few days is to be challenged.
My own take on this brouhaha, incidentally, is here:
https://gapingsilence.wordpress.com/2026/10/09/defending-zionism/
Such a fine statement! I’d now like to share some voting results from the by-election where I live, in Holborn & St Pancras. The figures make clear that Zack Polanski had won the vote in the three wards which had formerly voted for Andrew Feinstein : Somers Town, Regents Park, Kings Cross. It is very moving that these districts with a high Muslim vote chose to put their trust in two Jewish candidates campaigning for Gaza (rather than a somali-heritage starmerite sockpuppet — moderator, feel free to remove this part of my comment if it is libellous!).
What is alarming is the total collapse of the Green vote in wards where it had formerly been strong: Kentish Town north and south, Primrose Hill etc. Tentatively I suggest that some of these voters may have been giving Burnham the benefit of the doubt; I too have my fingers crossed that he’ll be able to carry out some of the policies he’s promised. But I’m afraid more of these voters may have been influenced by the media slurs against Polanski, the entirely indentity-based and policy-free (when not actually lying) campaign of Abdi-Wali, and to some extent mistakes of the Green team on the ground. The Greens mostly seemed to be pushing a rainforest-worth of leaflets through everyone’s letterboxes almost every morning, but the leaflets said nothing. There were few if any street stalls or other efforts to meet local people on the ground. Any hint of bold politics — such as alerting voters to the Labour candidate’s close links to IDF trained Izzy Lenga — was shut down anxiously.
In short, there were many elements fighting against a Polanksi win, but the Green organisational hierarchy didn’t help. I hope that perhaps some of the Camden People’s Alliance’s successes might be transferable and we can have an opportunity to give helpful advice.