The city council of the Scottish capital of Edinburgh on Thursday passed a motion calling on the British and Scottish prime ministers to condemn last month’s resolution by the Green Party of England and Wales, which called Zionism a form of racism.
The Edinburgh Council resolution said that that body’s members “condemn the divisive language of the [Green Party of England and Wales] conference motion, reaffirm its opposition to antisemitism and express its solidarity with Edinburgh’s Jewish community,” the Edinburgh Evening News reported.
The motion in Edinburgh, whose council has passed several anti-Israel motions, underlines dissatisfaction with the Green Party’s Oct. 4 resolution even in left-wing circles where the Jewish state is deeply unpopular. Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrats representatives voted for the resolution, with the Scottish Greens and Scottish National Party opposing it.
Separately, a Scottish National Party lawmaker queried the Scottish government on Wednesday, asking them to reply on why a Spanish train station, CAF, was allowed to participate in a local railways tender in light of CAF’s involvement in building the Jerusalem Light Rail in the city’s east.
“This was not about debating the conflict between Israel and Palestine. It was about ensuring that Edinburgh’s Jewish community knows it is valued, respected and supported, and that antisemitism has no place in our capital,” wrote Councilor Marie-Clair Munro of the Scottish Conservative Party, who submitted the motion, the Evening News reported.
In September 2025, a majority of councilors in Edinburgh backed a Green Party motion seeking Scottish government guidance and legislative changes to enable councils to implement boycotts against Israel.
The Green Party resolution on Zionism, which last week prompted the Board of Deputies of British Jews to formally declare the Green Party “racist,“ has divided the British left and even the Green Party itself.
It has also complicated the alliances of Green officials with other parties in some municipalities, including Sheffield, where Labour representatives intend to split with Greens because of the resolution, the Jewish News of London reported on Thursday.
On Wealden District Council in Sussex, led by Greens, one Green councilor, Christina Coleman, confirmed on Thursday that she had defected to the Liberal Democrats over the Green Party’s direction under Zack Polanski’s leadership “and the recent conference motion on Zionism,” the Jewish News reported.
Polanski did not vote in favor of the Zionism resolution but said he would not try to overturn it.
