Green Party Figure Behind Zionism Motion Was 'Close Friend' of Jailed al-Qaeda Supporter, Court Papers Reveal

The Green Party activist who authored a contentious motion labelling Zionism as racism was described in American court filings as a "close friend" of a man imprisoned for supporting al-Qaeda, according to documents reviewed by BBC News. The revelation has intensified an already bitter internal dispute within the party over the motion, which was approved at its conference on Sunday and now forms official party policy.

Lubna Speitan, a British-Palestinian artist, put forward the proposal that characterises Zionism as an ideology backing "an ethnonationalist Jewish state." The motion also calls for "a single democratic Palestinian state in all of historic Palestine," a formulation that encompasses the territory of modern-day Israel.

Court records dating from 2015 indicate that Speitan offered to appear as a defence witness in the case of Minh Quang Pham, a Vietnamese-born British national who received a 40-year sentence in the United States after admitting to supporting al-Qaeda. Pham consistently denied that he had been planning a suicide bombing.

The BBC has approached Speitan for a response, but she has not yet commented. A spokesperson for the Green Party stated that Speitan does not hold any official positions within the organisation and stressed that the party "takes all allegations of this nature seriously."

The fallout from the motion has been swift and severe. Israel responded by barring Green leader Zack Polanski from entering the country. Jewish organisations condemned the measure as an "attack" on their community, while some Labour and Liberal Democrat MPs referred the party to Britain's equality watchdog for investigation.

In defending the motion, Speitan argued that its supporters were seeking to express opposition to what she described as "racist systems of oppression." The controversy, however, has deepened following the disclosure of her connections to Pham.

On Tuesday, it came to light that Speitan had written a letter in 2016 to the New York judge presiding over Pham's case, in which she portrayed him as "one of the kindest, honest, most sincere" individuals she had ever encountered. The Jewish Chronicle was the first to report the letter's existence, and BBC News has since confirmed its contents.

Pham, who was born in Vietnam but held British citizenship and had lived in London, was apprehended at Heathrow Airport in July 2011, following a seven-month stay in Yemen. At the time of his arrest, authorities discovered he was carrying a live round of ammunition.

He was extradited to the United States in 2015 and subsequently sentenced to 40 years in prison in 2016, after pleading guilty to three charges related to his support for al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), a faction affiliated with the broader al-Qaeda network.

American prosecutors alleged that Pham had been instructed by al-Qaeda leader Anwar al-Awlaki to detonate explosives in Heathrow's arrivals area, following several months of training under his direction in Yemen. Pham denied this allegation.

The 2015 court documents listed Speitan as a "close friend" of Pham, noting that she would offer "critical testimony regarding Pham's mental state." The filings stated that her evidence would be "crucial in establishing a mental health defense" and would "bear on the issue of guilt." The documents also noted that a medical condition prevented her from testifying in person.

In a subsequent letter to the US District Judge, Speitan asserted that Pham was among the "few people I regard with such high respect and esteem." She wrote that if the judge had "truly knew the Minh [Pham] that and others grew to love and respect," the court may have "probably had the whole case dismissed."

While acknowledging that Pham "may have had and developed some behavioural issues," she added: "He turned out to be one of the kindest, honest, most sincere, trustworthy and respectful people I have ever known." The court documents contain no indication that Speitan was aware of Pham's criminal activities during the period they knew each other.

The Telegraph reported that when it asked Speitan whether she remained friends with Pham, she answered: "Yes, it's still the case." She was also reported to have said she believed Pham had been "targeted" by "the system."

A Green Party spokesperson reiterated the party's position, saying: "Where members have expressed views that do not fit in with the party's values, we have internal processes to investigate." The statement underscores the delicate position the party finds itself in as it seeks to manage the fallout from both the motion and Speitan's background.

The disclosures have compounded the challenges facing Green leader Zack Polanski, who is Jewish and has been attempting to navigate deep divisions among party members, MPs, and deputy leaders over the motion. Several Green councillors have resigned since its passage, and Phil Davies, the party's deputy leader in Wales, stepped down and cancelled his membership on Tuesday, calling the motion "the final nail in the coffin."

Polanski issued a lengthy statement on Monday night, declaring that he would not permit anyone to be excluded from the party "because of the religious or communal body they are part of." He added that "antisemitism and criticism of the Israeli state are, and must always be, completely distinct."

The controversy has exposed significant tensions within the Green Party regarding its approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The leadership now faces the difficult task of reconciling the demands of its activist base with concerns about alienating Jewish members and broader public opinion. The coming weeks will likely see continued debate over the motion's implications, both for the party's internal cohesion and its external reputation.