Zionism is racism debate ‘unhelpful’, says Scottish Green co-leader

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Cite

Paton, C. (2026, October 17). Zionism is racism debate ‘unhelpful’, says Scottish Green co-leader. Evening Standard. https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/zionism-scottish-labour-israel-england-b1301270.html

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

Evening Standard · collected 2026-10-17 · by Craig Paton

Quick Summary

Scottish Green co-leader Gillian Mackay stated during an SNP conference that debating whether Zionism is racism is not productive and instead called for focusing on peace and self-determination in the Middle East. When asked if she views Zionism as racist, Mackay said that its current realization by Israeli actions, such as offensives in Gaza and treatment of Palestinians, is indeed racist due to displacement and loss of life. This stance has drawn criticism from Scottish Conservative MP Andrew Bowie and Reform UK’s deputy leader Thomas Kerr, who accused the Greens of allowing antisemitism within their ranks.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-17, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

As of 2026-10-17, Gillian Mackay, co-leader of the Scottish Greens, criticized the debate on Zionism as unhelpful during a discussion at the SNP conference. She argued that focusing on definitions of antisemitism and Zionism detracts from efforts to achieve peace in the Middle East. The controversy stems from a vote by the UK Greens where Zack Polanski's party, which is part of an international movement but not officially linked to the Scottish Green Party, faced backlash for supporting a motion that conflicts with the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism. In response, Labour announced it would cut ties with Zack Polanski's party at the council level in England and Wales if they do not disavow the controversial motion. Mackay emphasized her commitment to peace and self-determination for people in the region while condemning antisemitism in all forms.

Written for “Zionism Is Racism Debate Controversy” on 2026-10-17, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The model judged this article politically coded and scored it -0.65, but 1 quote(s) could not be found in the article and the other 1 are attributed speech rather than the article's own narration, so the score is not published.
Written under an earlier scoring contract, which gave a paragraph rather than checkable quotes. Re-analysing this article replaces it.
Leaning score withheld for article 87207: no verified evidence · logged 2026-10-17

Story

📰 Zionism Is Racism Debate Controversy
Politics · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 6% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Evening Standard
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 10% hedged 2 of 20 📰 publisher trust 67
“Article A discusses the EHRC writing to the Green Party regarding a complaint under the Equality Act, while Article B focuses on a Scottish Green co-leader's statement about the debate being unhelpful and its implications for peace.”
Daily Mail
⚖️ Leans strongly right 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 16 📰 publisher trust 64
“Article A discusses Labour's stance towards cutting ties with Greens due to a 'Zionism is racism' motion, while Article B focuses on Scottish Green co-leader Gillian Mackay's comments about the debate being unhelpful. Though related, they describe different specific incidents.”
Evening Standard
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 13 📰 publisher trust 67
“While both articles discuss the Labour Party's response to the Green Party's Zionism motion, Article A describes Labour's immediate demands for a response from Greens within seven days, while Article B reports on Scottish Green co-leader's statement at an unrelated conference about the conversation being unhelpful.”
Evening Standard
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 6% hedged 2 of 31 📰 publisher trust 67
“While both articles discuss Labour's response to a Green Party motion regarding Zionism, they describe different aspects of the situation occurring at different times.”
Al Jazeera
⚖️ Leans strongly left 🔴 8% hedged 2 of 26 📰 publisher trust 60
“Article A reports threats received by a Green Party member after passing an anti-Zionism motion, while Article B discusses the Scottish co-leader's stance on the debate being unhelpful and Labour's response.”
BBC News
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 10% hedged 2 of 21 📰 publisher trust 69
“While both articles discuss the 'Zionism is racism' motion passed by the Green Party, Article A focuses on the Equality and Human Rights Commission's response to the motion, while Article B highlights a Scottish Green co-leader's reaction to the backlash from the motion.”
Evening Standard
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 6% hedged 1 of 17 📰 publisher trust 67
“Article A discusses Labour's ultimatum to Greens in England and Wales, while Article B reports a Scottish Green co-leader's reaction at an SNP conference.”
Daily Mail
⚖️ Leans left 🔴 10% hedged 3 of 31 📰 publisher trust 64
“While both articles discuss the 'Zionism is racism' motion passed by a Green Party conference, they describe different aspects of the incident: Article A focuses on the Scottish Green co-leader's reaction to backlash against the motion, whereas Article B reports on an investigation into a GP involved with supporting the motion.”
BBC News
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 4% hedged 1 of 23 📰 publisher trust 69
“Article A reports on Labour's ultimatum to end local coalitions with Greens unless they disavow a policy, while Article B discusses a Scottish Green co-leader's reaction to the debate over Zionism. These cover related events but are not describing the same specific incident.”
The Guardian
⚖️ Leans strongly right 🔴 3% hedged 1 of 30 📰 publisher trust 67
“Article A describes Labour councils being told to end agreements with Greens over a policy, while Article B discusses Scottish Green co-leader's response to the backlash and debate on the policy.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
17
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
6%
1 of 17 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
withheld
no quote in the article backed the model's score
Publisher signals
67/100
Evening Standard's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-17 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Evening Standard · 5712 article(s) · 46 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 46 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Craig Paton
25 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 The changes, it is understood, will allow regional transport partnerships to have more control over routes and fares on the bus network, without the Government having to actively own it.
🔮 Zack Polanski’s party – which is not officially linked to the Scottish party, but forms part of a wider international movement – has faced a backlash since the vote, with Labour announcing it will cut ties with the party at council level in England and Wales if representatives do not disavow the motion.
🔮 “To pretend that there was nothing that the UK Government could have possibly done before this point.”
🔮 Andy Burnham will head north on Friday to make a speech in North Lanarkshire, where he will urge the Scottish Government to work with Whitehall to push powers to local communities, though it is not clear if more powers could be devolved to Holyrood.
🔮 “We’re in active discussion with the Chief Constable – at a very recent meeting with her, we were exploring this around what would help, what could make the difference as we have with the (SPF) and (the Association of Scottish Police Superintendents) around what would help make the difference to tackle this particular issue.”
🔮 Speaking to the Press Association in the conference hall on Thursday, Jenny Gilruth said: “We would welcome an early election.
🔮 The coming period will be the “greatest challenge” the independence movement has ever faced, Stephen Flynn has said.
🔮 Speaking to the Press Association in the conference hall on Thursday, Jenny Gilruth said: “We would welcome an early election.
🔮 Swinney had claimed ‘we are now going to lose our pension’ after Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced he would remove the ‘triple lock’ on pensions from 2030 to fund a national care service in England.
🔮 Andy Burnham announced he would drop the earnings element of the triple lock on pensions from 2030, meaning payments to pensioners will increase by either the rate of inflation or 2.5% annually, with the saving to fund the reform of social care in England.
Also by Craig Paton
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 25 articles by Craig Paton →

Topics

Gaza Palestinians Scottish Zionism the West Bank

Subjects

Scottish NORP · 6× Palestinians NORP · 4× Gillian Mackay PERSON · 3× Scotland GPE · 3× Zionism ORG · 3× Gaza GPE · 2× Greens NORP · 2× Mackay PERSON · 2× Zack Polanski PERSON · 2× the West Bank GPE · 2×

Narrative

Reform UK’s Scottish deputy leader Thomas Kerr was also critical, saying: “Even in the face of widespread condemnation of the UK Greens’ motion, Gillian Mackay has joined Ross Greer in choosing their twisted interpretation of Zionism over the safety and security of Scotland’s Jewish communities. “At least Zack Polanski and three of the other four MPs immediately distanced themselves from the motion that conflicts with the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-17
🔮 Zack Polanski’s party – which is not officially linked to the Scottish party, but forms part of a wider international movement – has faced a backlash since the vote, with Labour announcing it will cut ties with the party at council level in England and Wales if representatives do not disavow the motion.
2026-10-17 · Evening Standard
Zionism is racism debate ‘unhelpful’, says Scottish Green co-leader · assertive framing

Claims (17 extracted, 1 hedged)

Zack Polanski’s party – which is not officially linked to the Scottish party, but forms part of a wider international movement – has faced a backlash since the vote, with Labour announcing it will cut ties with the party at council level in England and Wales if representatives do not disavow the motion. asserted
representatives → link → motion
Speaking to journalists at the SNP conference – where she appeared to discuss Scottish independence – Scottish Green co-leader Gillian Mackay said: “I don’t think the conversation at that point is helpful because it focuses on definitions rather than actually focusing on how we achieve peace for the region as a whole and make sure that self determination for those there is what we’re talking about and how we get to that point of peace.” asserted
we → speak → peace
“It’s a difficult one,” she said after a pause. asserted
she → ’ → pause
She added: “They absolutely should have the right to have somewhere to be and to be able to live in peace. asserted
They → add → peace
“We absolutely condemn antisemitism in absolutely all of its forms and we want to see peace in the Middle East and self-determination for the people that are there. asserted
that → condemn → people
“I think constantly having politicians from other places say what should and shouldn’t be the thing for those people I don’t think is always particularly helpful. asserted
I → think → people
“But I think we need to make sure that self-determination piece is what we strive for.” asserted
we → think → what
Asked if she herself views Zionism as racist, Ms Mackay said the “realisation” of Zionism – the Israeli Government’s offensive in Gaza and the treatment of Palestinians in the West Bank – is. asserted
realisation → ask → Bank
“I don’t think anybody can look at what’s happening in Gaza and the West Bank at the moment and not see that the realisation of that political ideology is racist. asserted
realisation → think → ideology
“It’s resulted in the displacement of millions of Palestinians, the deaths of thousands of Palestinians, and I don’t think anybody looking at the situation objectively could come to any other conclusion.” uncertain
anybody → result → conclusion
The Scottish Greens, who will meet for their annual conference in Inverness next weekend, will not have a similar debate, Ms Mackay said. asserted
Mackay → meet → debate
Scottish Conservative MP Andrew Bowie said afterwards: “Antisemitism has no place in Scotland. “ asserted
Antisemitism → say → Scotland
The Greens under Zack Polanski have allowed it to rear its ugly head. asserted
it → allow → head
“Their toxicity is replicated in the words of the Scottish party, and it is too late for Gillian Mackay and Ross Greer to distance themselves from the mire they helped create.” asserted
they → replicate → mire
Reform UK’s Scottish deputy leader Thomas Kerr was also critical, saying: “Even in the face of widespread condemnation of the UK Greens’ motion, Gillian Mackay has joined Ross Greer in choosing their twisted interpretation of Zionism over the safety and security of Scotland’s Jewish communities. “At least Zack Polanski and three of the other four MPs immediately distanced themselves from the motion that conflicts with the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism. asserted
that → reform → antisemitism
“What is ‘deeply unhelpful’ is that the two Scottish leaders have delved deeper by supporting that antisemitic motion through opaque language, showing they care more about the lives of Palestinians than the 7,300 Jews living in Scotland.” asserted
they → delve → Scotland
Mr Kerr added: “Reform will not waver in standing up for Scots under fire, even if ‘Never Again’ in 2026 means calling out toxic rhetoric from another political party.” asserted
Never → add → party
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