Annie Gottfried Cohen

Five weeks in to teaching term and I finally mustered up the executive function to make myself a packed lunch. Next step: remember to put it in my bag and actually bring it with me to work. #ADHD

We could spend eternity debating whether it was the right move to make "zionism is racism" part of Green Party policy (and it seems like some people plan to do that). What if we actually talk about it 🧵

I think that one of the reasons this motion has sparked fury is because it hits too close to home, not just for Jews but for Europeans in general, forcing us to acknowledge that a lot of the privileges we enjoy are founded on colonialism and by extension on racism

It's a complicated and difficult discussion, but it's definitely one that needs to be had

Fundamentally, it is about recognizing that one people's freedom and safety cannot come at the expense of another people, and this needs to be acknowledged if we are going to move forward

I'm sort of playing devil's advocate, because I don't really believe that Zionism has brought freedom or security for Jews, including for Jews in Palestine. My point is: one can believe that it has, and still acknowledge that Zionism is racist

I think a lot of the conflict around this motion revolves around the use of the word "racism". I was chatting to my french partner about this, and he said that even though colonialism is recognised as a crime in France, he thinks a lot of people would be furious if it were recognised as racism

form.prform.pr

Saying that Zionism is racism doesn't mean erasing what Zionism has meant for many Jewish people. It means acknowledging that the (relative) safety granted to some Jewish people by the State of Israel has come at a price, and that that price is still being paid

But it did this at the expense of another people. I have read articles in the postwar Yiddish press talking about the "problem" of Jewish settlers, many of them refugees, feeling uncomfortable living in homes that they could see had been stolen from Palestinians...

The zionist movement was still a force for good for those Jewish refugees, providing them with a home, for the first time in Jewish history, a nation state. It was also racist, expelling and massacring Palestinians to make way for Jewish refugees and denying Palestiniens rights and even existence

An objection I've heard from a lot of people is that for thousands of Jews, Zionism has been a force for good, the movement that rescued from persecution. That is true, it also doesn't make it not racist.

The Zionist movement did provide a homeland for Jews fleeing persecution in Europe or languishing in DP camps after the Holocaust (I would argue it also provided a cop put for European states who failed to deal with the consequences of their own antisemitism but that's for another thread)

My French spouse: Can you explain the verb "to bung" Me: like "my nose is bunged up" or like "I'll just bung that over there" Him: so you cannot explain it

Everyone in my life is talking about the Zionism is Racism motion and how hard it has made life for Jews but could someone please spare a thought for my new Yiddish students who are quite outraged that Yiddish uses the Hebrew alphabet and they have to learn to read it. Shver tsu zayn a yid etc.

Annie Gottfried Cohen reposted

Replying to @dangerouscorner.bsky.social

As for the amendment, this is being portrayed in the media as an amendment that Jewish members wanted and was rejected but that is not the truth. It is an amendment that *some* Jewish members wanted, others, myself included, were dead against it, regardless of what we felt about the motion itself

Reading the news, it would be easy to believe that the Green Party has adopted a policy to expel its Jewish members, prevent them from attending synagogue or at the very least scrutinise their activities outside the party. *None of that has happened* 🧵

Yesterday I was interviewed on Radio 5 live as a member of the Jewish Greens committee. I was interviewed alongside a Rabbi who painted a rosy picture of Zionism as a noble ideology and of Israel as a uniquely democratic and moral state...

As I listened back to the interview I found myself once again thinking "this is why this motion exists." The fact that three years into a genocide, it is still possible for someone to go on the BBC and talk about the country committing that genocide as a moral and admirable project ...

Many have said, and I've tended to agree, that declaring "Zionism is racism" creates an unnecessary, controversial ideological argument instead of focusing on practical solidarity. But Palestinians are asking us to recognise that Zionism is racism, and this debate is not isolated to the Green Party

We—especially those of us who are Jewish or have a relationship with Zionism—have a responsibility to listen to them, not to dismiss their position as an unnecessary distraction, or as an antisemitic measure. This motion is not about Jews, it is about Palestinians

I am not saying that there is nothing to be criticised about this motion, I myself have been very torn over it as I know many other members of the Party have been, including I'm sure its leadership. But I'm noticing that there is some vital information missing in much of the discussion around it

First and foremost, *this motion was written by Palestinians* with the support of anti-Zionist Jewish allies (I was not one of the authors of the motion), and that is how it was presented to Party members, as a motion that represents Palestinian members of the Party ...

Much ado has been made about an amendment to safeguard Jewish members that was voted down at the conference, what is missing from this conversation is that amendment conflated Jews and Zionism in a way that the motion itself is careful not to do...

It was also unnecessary, not only because the motion itself declares it does not target Jews, but because this is not a motion that changes the party's disciplinary procedure. It *cannot* be used to penalise Jews or anyone else for their associations and activities outside the party...

The motions' drafters have stated elsewhere that they do not accept that there are non-racist forms of Zionism, however, other definitions of Zionism - for example, if you call yourself a Zionist because of a belief in Jewish autonomy—are not covered by this motion and not declared racist

The motion's drafters have also made clear that this motion will not be used to target Jews who attend Zionist institutions, like synagogues, many of which call themselves as Zionist. This has now been reiterated by the leadership of the Green Party

It also notes that these systems of oppression have "also created racial hierarchies between Jews of different ethnicities in Palestine."

Most importantly in the context of the current media storm "This motion is aimed at the political ideology and practice of Zionism, *as defined*, and not at the religious or ethnic background of those who may identify as Zionists. Not all Jews are Zionists and not all Zionists are Jews."

The motion defines Zionism as "a political ideology which called for the creation – and, now it exists, the continuity – of an ethnonationalist Jewish State in historic Palestine to the exclusion and/or domination of the non-Jewish population"

It states "the real, material manifestation of Zionism has been the historic and ongoing dehumanisation, displacement, dispossession, disenfranchisement and destruction of Palestinians ... based upon European settler-colonial systems of domination and oppression"

bbc.co.ukNaga Munchetty - 05/10/2026 - BBC SoundsNaga Munchetty features news, experiences, and big name interviews from around the UK.

The Party conference voted through a motion that declares Zionism *as it defines it* to be a form of racism. It also adds a few practical demands to the Party's existing position on Palestine, notably the call for the creation of a single democratic state

Joseph Finlay@josephfinlay.bsky.social

@annsplaining.bsky.social of Jewish Greens was great in this BBC Radio 5 discussion, starts at 1:05:45 www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Annie Gottfried Cohen reposted

Joseph Finlay

@josephfinlay.bsky.social

It will not be a disaster if the Zionism is Racism motion passes or if it falls. It’s just a conference motion. Everyone needs to calm down. It was UNGA policy between 1975 and 1991 and didn’t lead to the liberation of Palestine or the sky falling in.

Annie Gottfried Cohen reposted

Zack Polanski

@zackpolanski.bsky.social

Labour just don't get it. They don't get how scared people are with extreme weather becoming our new normal. We need voices in parliament that will force them to take wildfires seriously, not quietly shirk responsibility.

Annie Gottfried Cohen reposted

greenhealthpolicy.bsky.social

@greenhealthpolicy.bsky.social

What does the Green Party proposed new health policy say about #infectious disease? @greenparty.org.uk

My partner got our cat his own personal doorbell. It's attached to a sensor on the wall that tells us when he's coming to the door so that we don't have to keep the door open all the time. Much cheaper and less work than a cat flap and also 200% more whimsy. 10/10.

Jewish Voice for Liberation

The cat is always really surprised when we come to the door 😂

Annie Gottfried Cohen reposted

@jvl.org.uk

21 Sept

Yom Kippur. Jews fasting for Gaza in Westminster 40 young and old, on the pavement, demanding an end to Genocide

I am an anti-Zionist but I do sometimes flinch when I see people describing Zionism as uniquely "evil", as if it was somehow worse than or wasn't a part of the widespread evils of capitalism, colonialism and nationalism...

@josephfinlay.bsky.social

Seeing clips of Netanyahu at the UN proudly holding up a pager to celebrate his atrocities, it's not hard to understand why Zionists have become the new Disney villains of our world in many people's minds. We need to arrest that war criminal

Annie Gottfried Cohen reposted

Joseph Finlay

The only way you can identify yourself as anti-Zionist and say that Israel has committed genocide in a shul and not be thrown out, is if you are standing for election and get invited to a hustings there. So shekoyech to @zackpolanski.bsky.social for speaking for all of us excluded from these spaces.

jewishnews.co.ukPolanski sparks anger after declaring himself ‘anti-Zionist’ at packed communal hustings - Jewish NewsGreen Party's Holborn and St Pancras by-election candidate is booed and heckled

Full of admiration for @zackpolanski.bsky.social after hearing about the Jewish community hustings yesterday. We need more political leaders who stick to their principles even when they know it won't make them popular. I'm proud to be a Jewish member of the Green Party this morning

and I also switched in the past two years from describing myself as a "non-Zionist" to "anti-Zionist". After three years of livestreamed genocide who wouldn't?

tr.eeBashert Podcast Official: Instagram | LinktreeBashert is a podcast that celebrates the magic of the Jewish calendar; weaving together ritual practice, astrology of the month ahead and doikayt.

14 Aug

Was a mekhaye (joy) and a koved (honour) to be interviewed on the lefty Jewish podcast Bashert for their episode on the month of Elul, which began at sundown yesterday. Give it a listen tr.ee/2_wUOZJszB

Annie Gottfried Cohen reposted

Bill McKibben

@billmckibben.bsky.social

14 July

If you think it's hot where you are, it's 127 degrees Fahrenheit in Iran

Extreme Temperatures Around the World@extremetemps.bsky.social

HISTORIC 53C DAY- 38C at NIGHT 52.7C Omidieh IRAN All time record and 2026 World Record MINIMUMS ! 38.3 Delhoran IRAN 33.1 Uchkuduk UZBEKISTAN Next days WORSE 53/54c Middle East 49/50C former USSR 50/52C CHINA NIGHTS up to 40C MOST EXTREME HEAT WAVE IN WORLD HISTORY

Annie Gottfried Cohen reposted

Cowleyforniadreaming

@holybollards.bsky.social

10 July

Thames water have been discharging raw sewage into the river for more than 4 hrs today.

14 June

The year is 2036. A group of neurodivergent people with ME/CFS now live in Paris Chatelet metro because we lacked both the executive function and the energy to get more than halfway through the station

26 May

Mimed the word "avekleygn" (put away) for my Francophone Yiddish students and I said "tak" as I placed the object down for clarity. Feeling proud of my cultural literacy 🥸 Also now coming up with a "hop mayne homentashn" exercise that involves moving some homentashn from one place to another