Rositta Priestley

Complaints and Information Governance Officer

Green Party of England and Wales

April 30th, 2026​

Dear Ms Priestley

 

We request urgent reconsideration of the case of Tony Greenstein

 

We write on behalf of the Campaign Against Misrepresentation in Public Affairs, Information, and the News (CAMPAIN), a group that pushes back against false narratives in the public domain.

 

We have no party-political agenda, and our members include people of diverse religious beliefs and none. As you will see from our website, we are concerned about the ethics of public life, including the cynical weaponisation of antisemitism for political purposes.

 

We were much impressed by the Green Party’s rise in popularity, and Zack Polanski’s willingness to call out the weaponisation of antisemitism. The Party had become a symbol of hope and rejection of the cynical manoeuvres of the political establishment. We noted that it had picked up massive support from people on the left, and others who simply believe in honesty and justice.

 

We are therefore dumbfounded to find the Party accusing Tony Greenstein, a renowned and respected life-long Jewish pro-Palestinian campaigner, with the insulting - we should perhaps say vicious - charge of antisemitism.

 

We believe that if the Party proceeds in this way, effectively the same path Labour took a decade ago in what became a witch hunt to eradicate serious critics of Israel (under the misleading banner of tackling antisemitism in the Party), it will suffer a drastic loss of support with the demographic it seeks to attract. Indeed, we fear that if you persist with your suspension of Tony, you will lose all credibility.

 

The grounds for suspension

 

You have suspended Tony Greenstein on the grounds of his:

documented history of antisemitism, including court decisions and recent terrorism charges.

 

We are familiar with the many attacks that Tony has suffered for his activism, over many years, but have never seen any documented evidence in their support. All such accusations rely on the specious conflation of anti-Zionism and antisemitism.

 

Tony has sent us copies of his messages to you rebutting the charges, but we understand the Green Party has so far neither acknowledged nor answered him.

 

We have known Tony for many years, and while we would hardly describe him as a born diplomat, he has an incisive mind and unparalleled knowledge of the Israel/Palestine conflict and its ramifications in the UK. Tony is the son of an orthodox Jewish Rabbi, and although an atheist and anti-Zionist, takes very seriously all forms of racism, including actual antisemitism, and has a long-standing record of opposing them. The extraordinary charge that he is antisemitic calls for strong evidence and we agree with him that you have failed to provide this.

 

A well-trodden path of defamation

 

We are acutely aware of the way pro-Israeli advocates and influencers, especially UK Lawyers for Israel, have, with the aid of the mainstream media, weaponised the concepts of antisemitism and terrorism to suppress Palestinian rights and attack the pro-Palestinian left. It shocks us that the Green Party is apparently unable to distinguish between antisemitism and anti-Zionism. Zionism is a political project; anti-Zionism is the principled opposition to that project.

 

Avi Shlaim, the Jewish, Israeli-British historian and Emeritus Professor of International Relations at Oxford University, has made the distinction crystal clear. He says that anti-Zionism is a legitimate political stance against a state ideology, while antisemitism is the hatred of Jews. He also affirms that the conflation of anti-Zionism with antisemitism is a political tool deliberately designed by Israel and its allies to silence criticism of Israeli policies. Many other authoritative voices, Jewish and non-Jewish, confirm this understanding.

 

We should add that the pro-Israeli lobby has not only sought to discredit those on the left but also Liberal Democrats and Conservatives whose political positions do not accord with its own. Sir Alan Duncan’s is a case in point, revealing how the Conservative Friends of Israel (CFI) conspired to prevent him from being appointed to a ministerial post dealing with the Middle East for which he was eminently qualified. As a prominent advocate for Palestinian rights and a critic of Israel, Duncan was a key target for pro-Israeli lobbyists. Rightly incensed at this abuse of influence he declared that

 

money, improper influence, and the promotion of Israeli interests above our own have contributed to the destruction of the UK’s independent foreign policy

 

and called for the expulsion of the chair of CFI, Lord Polak, from the House of Lords.

Indeed, we have witnessed a dangerous erosion of reasoned debate and due process in the British body politic on Israeli-Palestinian issues that any person of conscience, and certainly a left-wing standard bearer like the Green Party, ought to vigorously challenge. That includes calling out pro-Israeli influencers like Lord Polak and UK Lawyers for Israel.

 

As for terrorism charges

 

Lastly, we think the Green Party should ask itself how much credibility it can attach to terrorism charges against Tony, given the way that the law has been systematically misused to prosecute peaceful protesters. These include the well over 3,000 (doubtless many Greens amongst them) arrested for holding placards. When confronted with such institutionalised malpractice we need to act in solidarity.

 

We look forward to your early reply to the points we have made and ask you to consider revoking Tony’s suspension. We shall also be grateful if you can immediately acknowledge this message.

 

Yours faithfully

 

Jonathan Coulter (Secretary)

On behalf of the CAMPAIN Committee (and a total of 841 signatories - see below)

www.campain.org

Mob 07843 383259