Brent Council defends decision to twin with Nablus

A council has defended its decision to twin with an occupied city in the West Bank.

In a full council meeting held in May, Brent Council in north-west London voted to twin with Nablus to promote "cultural, social, economic, and educational exchanges".

Since then, a petition has been set up against the move, saying the twinning did not give due regard to the effects this decision would have on all of its residents.

But Labour council leader Muhammed Butt said it "was not taken lightly" and that it "followed a period of public engagement, including a petition signed by more than 2,000 residents".

In an email response to residents, Butt said he wanted to "acknowledge the pain and trauma that continue to affect Jewish communities both here in Brent and around the world following the horrific terrorist attacks committed by Hamas on October 7th".

He said the decision to twin did not represent " for any political group or istration in Nablus".

"Rather, it reflects Brent's humanitarian values and a desire to connect with ordinary people in another part of the world who, like us, strive for peace, education, dignity, and progress for the next generation," he said.

Nablus sits in the West Bank, a landlocked territory illegally occupied by Israel in a war in 1967, along with the Gaza Strip.

Hamas has controlled Gaza, while Fatah isters areas in the West Bank.

The two groups are rivals; the Hamas movement was founded to challenge the Fatah-led Palestinian Liberation Organisation and took control of the Gaza Strip in 2007.

Fatah has recognised Israel, said it renounced terrorism in 1988 and seeks a two-state solution for a Palestinian homeland; Hamas is committed to the destruction of Israel and killed more than 1,200 people and took 251 hostages in a cross-border attack on 7 October 2023.

Since then, more than 50,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.

Brent's Labour group chair Ihtesham Afzal spearheaded the campaign for the partnership. He called the decision "momentous" and "significant".

"We'll be doing cultural exchanges, sharing art, history, culture, tradition, poetry, language along with architecture," he said.

"We'll be collaborating for the mutual benefit of both Brent and Nablus."

He added the scheme would "raise awareness about what's happening in Palestine" and that it was first mentioned in 2021-22.

"This has not been triggered over what happened in the last couple of years, it's been a long time coming," he said.

No money would come from the council's budget and council workers' time would not be spent on it as it was a community project, he added.

According to the 2021 Census, Brent has the second highest Arab diaspora in England and Wales, second only to Birmingham, with Arabs making up 5.3% of the Brent population (17,924 people).

"This is a non-exclusionary project. This is showcasing what we're about in Brent; we have Muslim people, Christian people, Jewish people, Hindu, Sikh - we have everybody across the board. We are a melting pot," said Afzal.

When asked if he had heard back from the Jewish community on taking part, he said "not in relation as to whether they'll be part of this initiative".

"When out on the marches, we have Jewish people, Christian people, Muslim people, Hindu, Sikh, everybody is out. People of all faiths and no faiths and we have that evidence of the [of the twinning] from the grassroots individuals in the community."

But Conservative councillor Michael Maurice, who opposed the move, said he was "disappointed" with the decision and that it would be "dangerous" for Brent residents to go to Nablus on exchange trips.

"When the motion was first put forward back in November, I proposed a counter-motion that Brent should twin with a city or town possibly in Israel which had a mixed Jewish, Arab, Christian community.

"I'm not opposed to twinning with any particular cities, but I think Nablus is particularly dangerous."

On Tuesday, the Israeli army launched a raid on the city, killing two Palestinians according to the Palestinian ministry of health. The Israeli army said it was undertaking a counterterrorism operation.

Israeli ministers have recently approved new Jewish settlements which are widely seen as illegal under international law, though Israel disputes this.

Maurice said twinning was also a question of exchange visits.

"In other words, we will go to them and stay with them and take part in their programme and they can come to us and take part in our programmes but it would be very dangerous for us to go there."

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office travel currently advises against all but essential travel to Nablus.

Motasem Zaid, a Palestinian engineer who lives in Brent, said he was overwhelmed by the and solidarity he had been shown by people in the borough.

He believed twinning was about forming a long-term relationship that would last beyond the conflict.

"It can be and it will be hopefully beneficial for both communities economically, culturally, even with the exchange between the educational institutions between the two communities," he said.

"The twinning is not meant to exclude anyone. It's meant to do the opposite, it's meant to include everyone.

"It's not going to cost the council or the taxpayer anything. So to me, if I'm taking this solidarity part out of the equation, it's a risk-free investment."

Jewish resident and former Reform candidate Ian Collier said the twinning was not risk-free.

He started the petition against the decision and is calling on the council to reconsider.

"Everybody that I spoke to was quite disgusted, as I was, about the idea and the concept," he said.

"We felt it was just totally out of character with what a council should be doing for its residents.

"We don't believe it's in the interest of some elements of the community and it does put a number of people in the community at physical harm.

"At the last count, there were 3,700 Jews living in Brent. I believe that each and everyone of them will feel more threatened because of any particular influence that people in Brent, or worse still the children of people in Brent, receive from having correspondence or interaction with the people of Nablus."

Retired GP Jonathan Fluxman, who represents a different Jewish voice in Brent, said twinning would foster understanding.

"We've heard the stories over and over again," he said. "Othering of Palestinians, of Arabs, of people from the Middle East. 'They're not like us. They don't share our values.'

"I think that's nonsense. We are all human beings. We all share a common humanity, and what we need to do is interact with each other and understand each other.

"There's been a lot of talk about Jewish fears of safety and being made uncomfortable. I have no sense of fear about this."

According to the Local Government Information Unit (LGIU) the UK has approximately 2,000 twinning links, which are legal or social agreements between two cities, towns or villages, to boost trade and tourism, promote peace and cultural exchange.

The LGIU said such arrangements were "good for fostering business connections and mutually beneficial economic partnerships".

Brent has also been twinned with South Dublin County Council since 1997.

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