By GB News (Politics) | Created at 2026-10-06 19:57:02 | Updated at 2026-10-06 22:16:10
2 hours ago
The Green Party member behind the controversial "Zionism is racism" motion is a "close friend" of a convicted al-Qaeda terrorist who plotted an attack that could have killed "hundreds" at Heathrow Airport.
Lubna Speitan, a British-Palestinian artist, originally proposed the motion, urging Green Party members to oppose "racist systems of oppression".
Videos online appear to show Ms Speitan previously demanding members "continue until we dismantle Zionism from the world, from every country," urging people to "hunt" Zionists down before warning: "It won't happen without force."
The Telegraph has now revealed Ms Speitan is a "close friend" of a convicted al-Qaeda terrorist, and agreed to testify that he was a peaceful man. He was ultimately sentenced to 40 years in prison.
Minh Quang Pham remains incarcerated in the US. He pleaded guilty to preparing a plot to detonate a backpack filled with shrapnel doused in rat poison at Heathrow Airport.
Ms Speitan, who was to provide testimony for Pham before a judge ruled otherwise, was described as his "close friend" in court documents. Remarkably, when approached by the newspaper about whether they remained friends, she was candid in her response: "Yes, it's still the case."
She says their relationship "hasn't changed" since his conviction, and believes he has been "targeted" by the "system" which "has a lot to answer for," such as systemic racism and anti-Muslim hate.
Lubna Speitan, the Green Party member behind the controversial 'Zionism is racism' motion, is a 'close friend' of a convicted al-Qaeda terrorist who plotted an attack that could have killed 'hundreds' at Heathrow Airport, reports suggest
INSTAGRAM: @LUBNASPEITAN
Pham pleaded guilty to terrorism offences in 2016. He had first been arrested after returning to the UK - where he and his family had been granted asylum in 1989 - from Yemen in July 2011.
During his return - a trip that had seen him leave his pregnant wife at home to join al-Qaeda on the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), prosecutors said - UK authorities discovered armour-piercing ammunition in his luggage.
He was ultimately freed with a caution, but arrested later that year when raids on his home showed he had been watching AQAP training videos made by Anwar al-Awlaki - whom he is believed to have met during his time in Yemen.
He had planned to target travellers returning from Israel and the US in an attack that could have killed "hundreds of people," according to prosecutors.
In 2015, Pham was extradited to the US to face terrorism charges. This is where Ms Speitan agreed to testify for Pham, hoping to boost his defence of insanity by claiming he suffered from bipolar disorder, The Telegraph reports.
Minh Quang Pham was sentenced to 40 years in prison in the US
US DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
She was denied her testimony, however, after claiming she was unable to fly to New York due to a medical condition. The defence's request to call witnesses was rejected, as none of them would travel to the US.
By January 2016, Pham had pleaded guilty, admitting to his membership within AQAP, as well as to helping produce their propaganda magazine, Inspire.
District Judge Alison Nathan said she believed Pham had intended to commit "a horrific suicide bombing" at Heathrow, and deserved an "exceptionally severe sentence".
Ms Speitan claimed the approach made regarding her relationship with the terrorist was part of "mainstream media" attacks aiming to "demonise" Palestinians. She did, however, suggest Pham had been wrongly accused of his crimes.
"People are demonised for all sorts of things and wrongfully accused of all sorts of things," she said.
Ms Speitan was the driving force behind the Green Party's recent motion, declaring Zionism as racism. "We stand united against all forms of racism and discrimination - no exemptions," she said.
Zack Polanski, who is Jewish but controversially abstained from the vote, has been barred from entering Israel, with the country's foreign minister describing it as 'a stain on the history of the United Kingdom'
The activist also told Middle East Eye: "It's beyond a motion - it's a movement. This is a seed planted here."
But the motion has already had cataclysmic impacts for the party. The leader of the Jewish Greens has threatened to leave the party, slamming the vote as "unhelpful" and declaring it "does not make any difference whatsoever to Palestinians".
Zack Polanski, who is Jewish but controversially abstained from the vote, has been barred from entering Israel, with the country's foreign minister describing it as "a stain on the history of the United Kingdom."
The Greens leader faces crisis just days away from the Holborn and St Pancras by-election, in which he is standing.
A Green Party spokesman said: "Lubna Speitan holds no party positions other than being a member. The Green Party takes all allegations of this nature seriously. Where members have expressed views that do not fit in with the party’s values, we have internal processes to investigate."
