Green Party leader slams UK minister for ‘irresponsible’ attack on Gaza protests

Green Party leader Zack Polanski has condemned the Manchester synagogue attack as “horrific”, calling for solidarity between communities while warning against politicians exploiting the tragedy to silence dissent on Gaza.

“I'm a Jewish man. I went to a synagogue that was very close to this synagogue. I went to school close to this synagogue. So this is both personal for me and is political,” Polanski told Sky News.

He said the only authentic response was unity. “Actually the only authentic response is solidarity. We need community cohesion and we need people to stick together.”

Polanski criticised Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch for linking language around Gaza to rising antisemitism. “No, I think Kemi Badenoch was deeply irresponsible there. We [can't] conflate the Jewish community and the ongoing genocide in Gaza and actually putting those two things together, I say personally as a Jewish person, makes me feel more at risk.”

He also hit out at Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, who described protests calling for an end to the genocide in Gaza as “fundamentally un-British”.

“No, I think Shabana Mahmood is also being deeply irresponsible. Conflating protests against a genocide in Gaza and ultimately weaponising that against an antisemitic attack on our streets … is incoherent and it’s exactly the opposite of what we need from politicians,” said Polanski.

Polanski stressed that the two issues must not be conflated. “If someone is trying to weaponize the attack that happened yesterday to try and silence protest in this country against the genocide again. They're separate issues. Of course, we should always look to be respectful, but we also need to be clear what this government is doing. They are selling arms to Israel. They're sharing intelligence for an ongoing genocide.”

He added that while sensitivity to grieving communities was essential, it should not mean silence over Gaza. “Of course, I would make a call to everyone to be sensitive to the Jewish community to recognize what's happening, but again, speaking as a member of the Jewish community. I wouldn't want anyone to feel like they had to be silent about a genocide that's happening.”

Polanski accused the government of deflecting attention from its role in Gaza. “I’m less concerned about the policing of language and civility, and I’m more concerned about the actual bombs that are landing on people.”