Leaked internal communications from a private WhatsApp group used by UK Green Party members featured discussions regarding “killing Zionists” and descriptions of British Jews as a “weapon” for Israel, according to a report published by The Times.
The chat group, named Greens Against Imperialism, was established by Sophus Magill, a Green Party parish councilor in Wootton Bridge on the Isle of Wight. During an online exchange in July, Magill wrote that “Zionism has to go, it’s ultimately an apartheidal, ethnosupremacist ideology [sic].”
When another member of the group asked what that meant in practical terms, Magill replied, “That it needs to go. The only solution is one equal state.” Prompted further by a member of the group who asked if that meant wanting Israel “wiped off the map, in essence,” Magill responded, “Yes, I would like that,” and added later in the conversation, “I don’t think it’s violent to want an illegitimate apartheid state gone from all maps, like Rhodesia.”
Magill also stated in the WhatsApp group, “Obviously I believe Israeli citizens who are not war criminals and who agree to peacefully coexist with Palestinians have a right to live in Palestine, as everyone should have the right to live wherever they want in the world so long as they are not a threat to the safety of others.”
The WhatsApp group, which members and activists used to coordinate party campaigning, conference motions, and foreign policy discussions, also contained remarks targeting British Jews.
‘British Jews are a brilliant weapon for the Israeli state’
In June, another member of the WhatsApp group wrote, “I think a lot of British Jews have been heavily exposed to the propaganda. It’s a common thing for them to go stay in Israel for a while before going to university … I remember a lot of my dad’s students did it. It’s unfortunate, but British Jews are a brilliant weapon for the Israeli state to help with the use of antisemitism as a justification in the UK, one of their strong allies.”
Additional messages captured in the leak included comments from an account using the initials “AT” within the WhatsApp group, which The Times noted had previously been identified as Ashley Tubb in a report by the Jewish Chronicle on opposition to banning Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Tubb had stood for election to the Green Party’s campaigns committee. In June, Tubb described Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in the WhatsApp group as “by definition part of a national liberation movement,” and wrote that “they liberated themselves from a US puppet regime of the Shah in 1979” and claimed that recent protests against the Iranian regime “were instigated and armed by the Americans and the Zionists.”
Other members of the WhatsApp group discussed the implications of extreme anti-Zionist rhetoric. In August, a member of the WhatsApp group wrote, “I suppose an extreme anti-Zionist could mean that you support killing Zionists. But that is not specifically racist any more than believing in capital punishment for traitors or ‘terrorists’ is. Wrong but not necessarily racist,” and added, “Considering the genocide, it is not surprising some anti-Zionists, particularly those living in, or having relatives in Palestine, are anti Jews, lumping all Jews in with the majority of Israeli Jews as genociders [sic]. Wrong but understandable.”
Logs show local party organizers participating in anti-Zionist rhetoric
The leaked logs showed that individuals holding formal organizational positions within the party also participated. Animah Kosai, the membership officer for Global Majority Greens, an official Green Party special interest group that includes deputy leader Mothin Ali, reached out to the chat members about conference preparations.
Kosai wrote in the WhatsApp group, “I know I’ve asked this before – who wants to join the GMG & Allies review of the motions. Basically it’s for this group too, but given that GMG is a formal special interest group, we are happy to provide cover.”
Kosai also promoted Motion A3, titled “Zionism is Racism,” encouraging members by posting in the WhatsApp group, “Motion A3 Zionism is Racism is open now for co-proposers!” and noted, “As a proposer of two motions, I unfortunately only have 2 to spare – one has gone to Zionism is Racism, and I’ll consider my fourth.”
When approached by The Times reporters for comment regarding the messages, Magill, Tubb, and Kosai did not dispute the exchanges, while a Green Party spokesperson reportedly stated, “We do not comment on internal party forums or discussions on WhatsApp groups that are not official party group channels.”
A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said in a statement to The Jerusalem Post: “These messages are not only utterly repugnant, but certain posts to the group may constitute criminal offenses which our lawyers are currently reviewing. This is a matter that should be sufficiently serious to concern the police, especially given the talk of what seems to be a vehicular mass-casualty attack on British Jews.
“The Green Party has glibly declined to comment because the group was not ‘official,’ but that is not good enough, not least because the group was created by one of their Councillors. The Green Party is increasingly rife with this kind of invective and incitement, and those responsible must be expelled.”
A spokesperson for the Board of Deputies of British Jews responded to news of the group messages, in a statement to The Jerusalem Post, saying, “When members of a mainstream political party can reportedly discuss the killing of ‘Zionists’, rationalise hostility towards Jews, and fantasise about Israel’s destruction, the danger is not theoretical. Such rhetoric lowers the threshold for intimidation and violence against Jews in Britain. The Green Party must suspend those involved now, investigate urgently, and expel anyone found to have advocated violence or antisemitic hatred.”
