Joshua Benjamin Alston

Josh Alston
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Born	July/August 1996, in Surrey.
Died
Nationality
Residence
Occupation	Academic, activist
Known for	Policy Officer of Jewish Greens
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Children
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Josh Alston (full name Joshua Benjamin Alston, born July/August 1996) is a British academic and Green Party of England and Wales activist. He is Policy Officer of Jewish Greens and was previously Chair of the group. He is the younger brother of Sam Alston.

Family and background

Born Joshua Benjamin Alston in July/August 1996 in Surrey. His parents were Richard Alston and Sara E Alston (nee Rich) married in April 1991 in Camberwell.

Sara E Alston was born in the second quarter of 1964 in Lambeth. Mother's maiden name Benedictus.

Career

Josh Alston is an academic at the University of Leeds, where he completed a WRoCAH-funded PhD on Jewish experiences of whiteness in apartheid South Africa (1937–2005). His research focuses on the intersection of Jewish history, whiteness studies and settler-colonial contexts.

Green Party of England and Wales roles and affiliations

He has been an active Green Party of England and Wales member for over ten years. As Jewish Greens Policy Officer he compiled the Antisemitism Guidance adopted into the party’s Framework for Ethics & Conduct in 2021. He has spoken at party conferences on fascism and climate justice, including a panel on tackling the rise of the far right and a joint event with Muslim Greens on faith and environmentalism.

Antisemitism Guidance

As Jewish Greens Policy Officer, Josh Alston was the principal compiler of the party’s Guidance on Antisemitism, (17 pages) formally adopted by Green Party of England and Wales Autumn Conference 2021 and incorporated into the Framework for Ethics & Conduct for use in disciplinary cases.

The document presents the IHRA definition of antisemitism alongside the Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism as contextual tools. It states that the guidance aims to ensure members “understand antisemitism and how to challenge it” while explicitly protecting legitimate criticism of Israel, BDS advocacy and freedom of speech.

The guidance states: “criticism of Israel similar to that levelled against any other country cannot be regarded as antisemitic.” It further declares: “It would be completely legitimate and in keeping with Green Party policy and values to criticise Israel for its treatment of Palestinians.”

On legitimate criticism it clarifies: “This document is intended to protect legitimate criticism of Israel, while providing the guidance needed for the disciplinary committee to fully deal with those who are racist.” It explicitly protects BDS, freedom of speech and anti-Zionist positions, stating the document “has no impact on the Green Party’s existing policies on freedom of speech, BDS, or on Israel/Palestine.”

Alston told conference: “This motion would put us at the vanguard of the fight against antisemitism, and at the vanguard of the fight against the global far right while protecting our pro-Palestinian policy.”

The motion passed by an overwhelming majority and was supported by co-leader Carla Denyer and MP Caroline Lucas.

A shorter 4-page version (Guidance on antisemitism and dealing with accusations) was issued in February 2025 for handling complaints.

Criticisms

The guidance was condemned by the Board of Deputies of British Jews and other communal bodies as containing “contradictory definitions” that diluted the IHRA standard and failed to protect Jews adequately. Zionist critics argued it prioritised pro-Palestinian activism over robust antisemitism safeguards.

Views on anti-Zionism

Josh Alston describes himself as a “committed anti-Zionist”. He defines this position as the belief that “Zionism is a form of settler nationalism” and that “the racism, genocide and apartheid characterizing Israel today have their core in Zionism as an ideology”. He clarifies that while he regards Zionism as “intrinsically racist”, it is not itself a *type* of racism but a nationalist ideology that contains racism as an integral part.

Opposition to the “Zionism is racism” motion

Josh Alston opposed Motion A105 / E12 (“Zionism is racism”) at the Green Party of England and Wales Spring Conference 2026. Writing in a personal capacity, he argued that the motion rests on “a small error with big and troubling implications”.

He explained: “Zionism is the belief in Jewish settlement in Palestine. Racist violence, ethnic cleansing of Palestinian inhabitants of Palestine has been the result of this belief… However, ‘Zionism’ is a term that describes the belief in settlement, rather than the violence and dispossession that has resulted from this settlement.” The correct description of the violence, he stated, is “anti-Palestinian racism, or white supremacy”.

Using analogies, he continued: “To use apartheid South Africa as an analogy, I believe that Zionism is to Israel what Afrikaner nationalism was to South Africa. The formulation that ‘Zionism is racism’ would frame Zionism as being to Israel what racism was to apartheid South Africa. It confuses a nationalist ideology with an ideology of racial difference, when the two are linked but not the same.” He added: “It is like proclaiming that US nationalism is a type of racism. It is undeniably racist and terrible acts of discrimination, dispossession and violence have been done in the name of America. But believing in US nationalism is not the same as supporting the acts of discrimination done in the name of that nationalism.”

Alston warned that the motion’s Action Point 2 would effectively proscribe Zionists from the party, risking the exclusion of “almost any Jew involved in organised communal life” because 64% of British Jews describe themselves as Zionist. He emphasised: “As an anti-Zionist I don’t want to give up on these people, I want them to come round to my point of view. The Green Party shouldn’t either.”

Other affiliations

Josh Alston is a member of the Kingston and York Liberal communities and was an active member of the Liberal Youth movement, LJY-Netzer. Both synagogues and LJY-Netzer were members of Liberal Judaism until May 2025 when it merged with the Movement for Reform Judaism to create the Movement for Progressive Judaism.

All three of these organisations are formally Zionist.

He works with the South African Jewish community and is a supporter of climate-change campaigns, the English cricket team and Bolton Wanderers Football Club.

Brother

His brother is Sam Alston, who has also served as secretary of Jewish Greens and was a candidate for the Green Party of England and Wales Regional Council.