Writing in the Jewish Chronicle ahead of tonight’s Full Council meeting, Cllr Hannah Galley, councillor for Abbey Road and Cabinet Member for Children and Education, explains why she is moving a motion affirming that Zionism is not racism, and why the need to do so should alarm us all.
The joint motion will be seconded by Labour’s Cllr David Boothroyd. Cllr Galley writes that it is only the second joint motion the council has seen since 2018, brought in response to the Green Party conference’s vote that Zionism is racism: “we felt as councillors we must speak out for our Jewish community.”
She represents Abbey Road, a corner of St John’s Wood with a large and vibrant Jewish community, and writes that since October 7 a campaign of sustained hatred towards Jewish identity has played out on the capital’s streets, in universities and in public institutions. “I have heard from residents at our local synagogue who no longer feel safe expressing their identity openly in London.”
“For too long, a creeping climate of intolerance, intimidation and hatred directed towards Jewish people has been allowed to fester in our capital. If we elected representatives do not speak out about it, then who will? How will the Jewish community know that we stand on their side?”
Cllr Galley writes that for many Jews, Zionism is deeply intertwined with their religious, cultural and historical identity, and that equating the existence and legitimacy of the State of Israel with the actions of its government is “ludicrously simplistic and wrong”.
“My responsibility as a councillor is to defend community cohesion, to challenge prejudice wherever it arises, and to ensure that every resident feels safe in expressing their identity. Zionism is not racist. Jewish identity is not something to be erased. And Jewish people should never have to hide who they are to feel safe in the greatest city in the world.”
Read more about the motion: what Cllr Paul Swaddle told MyLondon and the cross-party backing for the motion.
