Yahoo News North London council's plan to twin with Palestinian city branded 'divisive' as councillor walks out
A North London council has voted to consider twinning the borough with a Palestinian city to show it 'stands on the side of justice at home and abroad'. The decision was criticised as 'divisive' by opposition parties and saw a Cabinet Member walk out of the chamber ahead of the vote.
Wembley Hill ward's Labour councillor, Ihtesham Afzal, tabled a motion to twin Brent with Nablus at last week's Full Council meeting (November 18), which was subsequently voted through. The Conservative opposition tabled an amendment to instead twin with the Israeli city of Ramla, whilst the Liberal Democrats called for both motions to be withdrawn - moves which ultimately failed to pass.
Cllr Afzal called it 'an honour and a privilege' to bring forward the motion, claiming that it 'speaks to who we are and what we stand for'. He described Brent as a borough that is 'compassionate with morals, principles, values, and ethics' and demonstrates that Brent Council 'stands on the side of justice at home and abroad'.
READ MORE: The London borough with the most school suspensions handed out to pupils
Cllr Afzal added: "Palestinians from Nablus and elsewhere have endured so much, some of whom have lived through a brutal military occupation for their whole lives. Their strength, their courage, their resilience that they have [are] things that we can learn from. Learn their histories, learn their stories, learn their daily struggles and, in return, we present our Brent story across to them."
Twinning towns are designed to foster closer relationships between communities through shared values, as well as to learn from other cultures, traditions, and experiences. Brent currently has a single twinning relationship with South Dublin, established in 1997 at a time when Brent had the largest Irish-born population in mainland Britain.
There are a 'significant number of residents of Palestinian heritage' in Brent, according to Cllr Afzal, who claims a successful twinning would help promote initiatives, including educational collaborations, sports programmes, and heritage preservation workshops.
The motion highlighted opportunities that have already been provided to young Palestinians to meet young people in Brent, as well as councillors and MPs, to 'share and develop a bond' over their experiences in education, sport, and culture. It adds that opportunities for young Brent residents to visit the Palestinian territories, 'are being planned'. Gaza and the West Bank are the Palestinian territories in the region.
Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Schools, Cllr Gwen Grahl, spoke in support of the motion as a way of providing continued support for children fleeing conflict. She said: "It may seem that events in the Middle East have little impact on the administration of our council but the truth is that we support many looked-after children, some of whom came here as unaccompanied asylum seekers - lots of them seeking refuge from areas of war and conflict."
The motion was heavily criticised by both opposition parties. Conservative councillor Michael Maurice called it 'very divisive' and tabled an amendment that the council should instead establish a twinning arrangement with Ramla, a city in Israel.
Cllr Maurice said: "One side decided it did not take into account the diversity of the borough and the fact that, I think, the Hindu community is actually the biggest community in Brent. They are basically excluded from this."
The Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Cllr Anton Georgiou, called for both the original motion and the opposition amendment to be withdrawn, also calling it a 'divisive issue' that 'does not need to be discussed at Brent Council'. Cllr Georgiou highlighted the 'diversity and nature of the borough' and how the council has agreed to 'respect everyone and where [they] are from'.
However, the most notable intervention was from the Cabinet Member for Community Health and Wellbeing and member of the local Makor Hayim Jewish community, Cllr Neil Nerva, who claimed any motion should be about Brent working with both Israel and Palestine and that the council's role in troubled times is 'to promote and enable community cohesion'.
Cllr Nerva said: "Twinning undertaken in a one-sided way in an area of conflict, where there are varying narratives, can do the exact opposite - create community discord inside Brent. The very opposite of why we, regardless of party, were elected as councillors."
He added: "Given Brent's make-up, we no doubt could have twinned with numerous towns and cities, and we can probably have a flag waving every single week of the year. Perhaps because of that diversity we have held back from twinning."
Cllr Nerva left the chamber ahead of the vote. A report will now be carried out on the viability and delivery of the motion, as well as looking at the council's overall approach to twinning and will include an equality impact assessment to determine the consequences of the plan.
Don't miss out on the biggest stories from across the city: Sign up to MyLondon's The 12 HERE for the 12 biggest stories each day
