// BBC UK NEWS — CRONACA
Board of Deputies of British Jews declares Greens to be racist party
The Green Party of England and Wales has been declared a racist organisation by the Board of Deputies of British Jews.
The Jewish body, which is the largest in the UK, was responding to the "Zionism is racism" policy motion passed at the Green Party's conference earlier this month.
Board of Deputies president Phil Rosenberg said a vote passed by 118 votes to one to declare that the Greens had, "by adopting an antisemitic platform, become a racist party".
A spokesman for the Greens insisted the party does not discriminate against people who hold Zionist views and said it rejected the Board of Deputies' "characterisation of this motion and our party".
They added the decision "will not stop us from speaking out against the genocide in Gaza and pushing for stronger sanctions against the Israeli government and its leaders". Israel has repeatedly denied its actions in Gaza amount to genocide.
The motion passed by the Board of Deputies, external urged other parties not to do deals with the Greens unless they rejected the policy.
Forming coalition deals with Greens at local or national level would be "failing to take antisemitism with the requisite seriousness", it said, unless the party's local leadership have rejected the policy and committed to overturn it.
Labour has already issued an ultimatum to local Green groups it is currently in coalition with, telling them to disown the motion or lose the party's support.
Rosenberg said: "By adopting an antisemitic platform, the Green Party of England and Wales has become a racist party. We will treat it accordingly.
"No political party has the right to tell Jews that a central part of our identity, rooted in thousands of years of history, faith and peoplehood, is racist.