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Preston has picked the city of Hebron as the place in Palestine with which it will seek to form a friendship agreement.
The city council announced last year that it wanted to strike up an alliance with somewhere in the Palestinian territories which had shared an interest or identity with Preston.
The move followed a request from more than a dozen of the city’s mosques and came as the conflict in Gaza continued to rage.
However, it proved politically controversial, with concerns raised by opposition politicians about the potential for the ongoing involvement of Hamas – proscribed as a terror organisation in the UK – in the governance of the strip and any town or city with which Preston might partner. But that issue looks to have been addressed with the choice of Hebron, which stands in the West Bank.
Labour cabinet member for communities and social and justice Nweeda Khan acknowledged that the search for somewhere suitable for friendship had not been simple – and that two suggested towns had been ruled out because of “the political activism” found there, as well as their size and location. However, she said Hebron had “lots of commonalities” with Preston.
“It has a mixed population of Jewish settlers, of Muslims and Christians – [and] it’s rich in cultural diversity,” Cllr Khan told a meeting of the full council.
She added that because the friendship idea had come from the Muslim community in Preston, they had been consulted on the option of Hebron – and were “very happy and satisfied” with it.
The city is one of the oldest in the Middle East and was occupied by Israel after the Six-Day War in 1967. However, following an agreement reached 30 years later, it has since been split between the control of Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
Hebron is a major trading centre and has significant agriculture, glass and leather industries.
Cllr Khan said Preston was working with Derby – which is formally twinned with Hebron – as it continued to “progress” the friendship plan, which is being supported by the “Friendship of Palestine” organisation.
In a response to a question from Conservative group leader Stephen Thompson, who asked for an update on choosing a town or city in Israel with which to come to a similar agreement, Cllr Khan reiterated that the authority had opted last year to pursue the Palestinian friendship deal first, as a request had been received from Preston’s Muslim community before its Jewish community had made the same appeal.
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