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Preston City Council has moved a step closer to extending “the hand of friendship” to a town in Palestine.
The authority has voted to join a network that will help it explore the possibility, which was first mooted earlier this year.
However, the proposal prompted an at times emotive debate when it was discussed in the council chamber – including over the question of whether the city would be doing the same for a place in Israel.
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Cabinet member for communities and social justice Nweeda Khan said the move followed a request by 14 mosques in the city for Preston to enter into a “friendship agreement” with a Palestinian area.
“The [Britain Palestinian Friendship and Twinning Network]…is a voluntary organisation with no political ties, which has agreed to work with the council and its communities to try and identify areas of possible shared interest or identity between Preston and towns or cities in Palestine, [in order] to make connections as appropriate,” Cllr Khan explained.
Addressing a request made at a previous council meeting by Preston’s Jewish community for the authority to explore a similar arrangement with Israel, Cllr Khan said she had confirmed the council would do that, but added: “What we need to do firstly is to put this into place, to see how it develops, how it proceeds, what are the challenges for us [that] we may encounter and what are the benefits.
“It’s not about competition…this about a process we’ve got to follow. The request had come through first from the Muslim community.”
However, Conservative group leader Stephen Thompson warned that the plans were “premature” amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza.
“We don’t know what the outcome [will be], we don’t know how much Hamas will have an involvement in the future [of]…the administration of Gaza.
“We could well end up involving ourselves in something that becomes very divisive going forward,” said Cllr Thompson, adding that the idea should be put on hold until a “two-state solution” had been achieved in the Middle East.
Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrat opposition group put forward an amendment to the proposal in which they called for the council to identify an equivalent Israeli organisation to the Britain Palestinian Friendship and Twinning Network and work with both “in tandem” on friendship agreements in each territory.
Deputy group leader Neil Darby said that it was important “for the sake of community cohesion”.
Fellow Lib Dem Daniel Guise added that it was vital to make it “crystal clear that we do not intend to reach out our hand of friendship to Hamas nor to anyone who shares their objectives”. The UK government made Hamas, which has controlled Gaza for 17 years, a proscribed organisation in 2021.
The Hamas-run health ministry Gaza says more than 40,000 Palestinians have now been killed in the Israeli response to Hamas’ own attacks on Israel on 7th October last year, in which around 1,200 Jews were killed and more than 200 taken hostage.
Cllr Guise told the meeting, against that backdrop, his preference would be for the city authority to “do nothing at all”.
“While twinning or friendship agreements are a source of cultural richness…the application of them to the most intractable territorial dispute on the face of the planet, seems to me to be well outside the core responsibilities of this council,” he added.
However, deputy council leader Martyn Rawlinson described that position as “disgraceful”.
“We aren’t just talking about Muslims here – there are a lot of people who are not Muslims in Preston who care deeply about what’s happening to Palestine right now. If you looked at the population of the city and asked them [whether] they want us to say something [and if] they care about what’s happening over there, I think that would add up to many tens of thousands,” Cllr Rawlinson said.
The Lib Dem amendment was voted down and Labour member Pav Akhtar criticised both opposition groups for their stance.
“I find it extraordinary that members speak of Hamas and yet find absolutely zero words to say on the Israeli government which is committing a genocide right now,” He said.
Cllr Akhtar added that there was nothing “unusual” about what the council was proposing.
The plan to join the network was approved by a majority. Summing up the debate, a tearful Cllr Khan said she had “ no personal [or] political reason” for her actions.
“Had the Jewish community come forward before the Muslim community and asked for this friendship arrangement, I would have done what I’ve done now,” she said.
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