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Lubna Speitan, a British-Palestinian artist and member of the Green Party, who introduced a controversial motion labeling Zionism as a form of racism, has been identified in court records as a “close friend” of Minh Quang Pham. Pham was sentenced to 40 years in prison in the United States after admitting support for al-Qaeda but denying involvement in a planned suicide bombing at Heathrow Airport. Speitan’s motion, which passed at the Green Party conference, characterized Zionism as an ideology backing “an ethnonationalist Jewish state” and advocated for a “single democratic Palestinian state in all of historic Palestine,” encompassing what is now Israel.
Court documents dating back to 2015 reveal that Speitan had offered to testify in Pham’s defense, aiming to provide insight into his mental state. Due to a medical condition, she was unable to testify in person. In 2016, she wrote a letter to the New York judge in Pham’s case, describing him as “one of the kindest, honest, most sincere” individuals she had encountered, suggesting that knowing him might have led the court to dismiss the case. The documents do not indicate that Speitan was aware of Pham’s criminal activities during their acquaintance.
Pham, a Vietnamese-born British national who had lived in London, was detained at Heathrow Airport in 2011 after returning from Yemen, where he reportedly spent several months training with al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). U.S. prosecutors stated that Pham was directed by al-Qaeda leader Anwar al-Awlaki to carry out a suicide bombing in Heathrow’s arrivals area. Following his extradition to the United States in 2015, Pham was sentenced to a lengthy prison term in 2016 for charges related to supporting AQAP.
The Green Party has stated that Speitan holds no official role and that it treats allegations of this nature with seriousness. The motion’s adoption sparked significant controversy, leading Israel to bar Green Party leader Zack Polanski from entering the country. Jewish organizations condemned the motion as an attack, and some Members of Parliament from Labour and the Liberal Democrats reported the Green Party to the UK equality watchdog. Internally, the party has seen resignations in response, including Phil Davies, the Green deputy leader in Wales. Polanski, who is Jewish, emphasized in a public statement that criticizing the Israeli state must remain separate from antisemitism, affirming the party’s commitment to inclusion regardless of religious or communal affiliations
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