Councillor Stands Firm on Controversial Motion

Green councillor Carolyne Culver, who stood in the Reading West and Mid Berkshire seat at the 2024 general election, has refused to retract her support for a Green Party motion that declared "Zionism is racism". She was among 1,022 members who backed it.

The motion commits the party to supporting Palestinian liberation, the right of return, Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS), and a full arms embargo on Israel. A record of Green elected officials who voted for and against is on the "Zionism is not racism" website.

Campaigners behind the site demanded retractions or resignations, citing a passage in the motion that appears to legitimise 'armed struggle' 'affirmed in multiple UN instruments'. In an email, Cllr Culver refused to retract or resign.

At the general election she got 3,169 votes, finishing fifth. She represents Ridgeway ward on West Berkshire Council, covering Compton, the Ilsleys, Hampstead Norreys and Yattendon. Culver was first elected in 2019 with 917 votes and held the seat in 2023 with 952 votes.

Jacqueline Dominguez, elected for Abbey ward in Reading, also voted for the motion. Several elected Greens have left the party over it.

The "Zionism is not racism" site lists 11 councillors who signed its declaration against the motion and 13 who have quit. Examples include Kieran Dams, who resigned, Drew Creek, who left for the Labour and Co-operative Party, and Phil Davies, who called the anti-Zionism motion "idiotic".

At the party conference in Brighton on 4 October, 813 of the 1,835 Green members who voted opposed the motion.

James Aldridge, Local Democracy Reporter