UK Green member behind anti-Zionism motion ‘receives death threats’

Lubna Speitan, who has Palestinian roots, believes messages and emails are part of an effort to intimidate her.

British-Palestinian activist Lubna Speitan is seen after the passing of the motion 'Zionism is racism' at the Green Party's national conference in Brighton, England, the United Kingdom [File: Gary Roberts/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images]

London, United Kingdom – The British-Palestinian woman behind the Zionism is racism motion, passed by the Green Party of England and Wales earlier this month, says she has received death and rape threats since the vote.

In an interview with Al Jazeera on Thursday, Green member Lubna Speitan, an artist and activist, said she has received dozens of ominous social media messages and emails, which she has reported to the police.

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“These threats were anticipated,” said Speitan, who believes they are a form of “intimidation” from pro-Israel agitators.

While “no one wants to be on the receiving end of death threats”, she said it is “necessary to confront these evils”.

The Greens passed the motion by 1,022 votes to 813 at their party conference in Brighton, but it has been criticised by virtually all other British political parties and has brought turmoil to the Greens.

Several of its left-wing MPs have criticised the move, and on Thursday, Prime Minister Andy Burnham ruled out partnering with the party, calling the motion “wrong” and “anti-Semitic”.

The motion defines Zionism, the belief that Jews have a historic claim to Palestine, as a form of racism, predicated on the dispossession and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians. Palestinians made up more than 90 percent of the population in 1917, when Britain declared its support for a Jewish state in the country.

The motion supports Palestinians’ right to self-determination and calls for the establishment of a single democratic state in historic Palestine for Muslims and Jews. It also says that anti-Zionism should not be equated with anti-Semitism.

‘Personally smeared’

Fifty-six members of Speitan’s family have been killed since Israel launched its genocidal war on Gaza three years ago.

“Zionism is defined clearly as an ethnonationalist settler-colonial project. The motion also recognises, correctly, that not all Jews are Zionists and not all Zionists are Jews,” she said. “It targets an ideology: Zionism.”

She added that she has been “personally smeared” by media outlets.

Recent headlines in the British press have claimed she was “friends” with an “al-Qaeda terrorist”, as she reportedly offered to testify in defence of Minh Quang Pham, a UK citizen who had planned an attack at Heathrow Airport.

“This tactic of guilt by association will not be dignified with a response,” Speitan said of the reports.

The Green Party of England and Wales told Al Jazeera that Speitan holds no party positions “other than being a member”.

“The Green Party takes all allegations of this nature seriously. Where members have expressed views that do not fit in with the party’s values, we have internal processes to investigate, and an investigation is under way,” it said.

Media watchdog NewsCord, which reviewed coverage of the motion, concluded that opponents of the resolution received 10 times more coverage than its supporters.

The Green Party is not the first Western political institution to classify Zionism as a form of racism . In 1975, the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution declaring that Zionism was a racist ideology. Seventy-two countries voted in favour of the motion, while 35 opposed it and 32 abstained. The resolution was later repealed in 1991.

拥有巴勒斯坦血统的卢布娜·斯佩坦认为，这些信息和电子邮件是恐吓她的手段之一。

英国巴勒斯坦裔活动家卢布娜·斯佩坦在英国布莱顿举行的绿党全国大会上，在“犹太复国主义是种族主义”动议获得通过后发表讲话。[图片来源：Gary Roberts/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images]

英国伦敦——本月早些时候，英格兰和威尔士绿党通过了一项“犹太复国主义是种族主义”的动议，其背后的英国巴勒斯坦裔女性表示，自投票以来，她收到了死亡和强奸威胁。

周四，绿党成员、艺术家兼活动家卢布娜·斯佩坦在接受半岛电视台采访时表示，她收到了数十条不祥的社交媒体信息和电子邮件，她已向警方报案。

英国绿党犯错的三个理由之一——犹太复国主义不是种族主义

（共3条结果，此为第2条）工党在备受瞩目的英国补选中击败绿党

绿党领袖在党内宣布犹太复国主义是种族主义后寻求修改规则（共3条，此为第3条）

“这些威胁早有预料，”斯佩坦说，他认为这是亲以色列煽动者的一种“恐吓”手段。

她表示，虽然“没有人愿意收到死亡威胁”，但“必须直面这些邪恶势力”。

绿党在布莱顿举行的党代会上以 1022 票对 813 票通过了该动议，但几乎所有其他英国政党都对此进行了批评，并给绿党带来了混乱。

该党的几位左翼议员批评了这一举动，周四，首相安迪·伯纳姆排除了与该党合作的可能性，称该动议“错误”且“反犹太”。

该动议将犹太复国主义——即犹太人对巴勒斯坦拥有历史所有权的信念——定义为一种种族主义，其基础是剥夺巴勒斯坦人的土地和进行种族清洗。1917年，英国宣布支持在巴勒斯坦建立犹太国时，巴勒斯坦人占该国人口的90%以上。

该动议支持巴勒斯坦人民的自决权，并呼吁在历史上的巴勒斯坦地区建立一个穆斯林和犹太人的单一民主国家。动议还指出，反犹太复国主义不应等同于反犹主义。

“个人抹黑”

自以色列三年前对加沙发动种族灭绝战争以来，斯佩坦家族已有 56 名成员丧生。

“犹太复国主义被明确定义为一种民族主义的殖民定居计划。该动议也正确地指出，并非所有犹太人都是犹太复国主义者，也并非所有犹太复国主义者都是犹太人，”她说道。“它针对的是一种意识形态：犹太复国主义。”

她还补充说，她本人受到了媒体的“人身攻击”。

英国媒体最近的头条新闻声称她与一名“基地组织恐怖分子”是“朋友”，据报道，她曾表示愿意为英国公民 Minh Quang Pham 作证，后者曾计划在希思罗机场发动袭击。

斯佩坦就这些报道表示：“这种通过关联定罪的策略不会得到体面的回应。”

英格兰和威尔士绿党告诉半岛电视台，斯佩坦除了是党员之外，没有担任任何党内职务。

绿党表示：“绿党严肃对待所有此类指控。对于党员发表的与党的价值观不符的观点，我们有内部调查程序，目前调查正在进行中。”

媒体监督机构 NewsCord 对该动议的报道进行了审查，得出结论：反对该决议的人获得的报道量是支持者的 10 倍。

绿党并非第一个将犹太复国主义定性为种族主义的西方政治机构。1975年，联合国大会通过一项决议，宣布犹太复国主义是一种种族主义意识形态。72个国家投了赞成票，35个国家投了反对票，32个国家弃权。该决议后来于1991年被废除。