Labour council slammed for 'marginalising Jewish community' after twinning with Palestinian city

The London local authority struck the partnership with the West Bank city of Nablus at a low-key ceremony at a Wembley hotel in January.

Palestinian Authority television picked up the deal, framing it as a reflection of solidarity between the two states.

Last May in a council meeting, the agreement was approved following lobbying from the Brent and Harrow branch of the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign, which gathered nearly 1,900 signatures in support of the initiative.

Jewish organisations, local clergy and MPs have since rounded on the council, accusing it of aligning itself with a city whose institutions have repeatedly honoured those responsible for attacks on Israeli civilians.

Critics have pointed to a monument in a central square in Nablus commemorating an Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades commander linked to a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv in 2003 that killed 23 people.

Also, local youth movements existing in Nablus have organised events praising militants and encouraging younger generations to follow what organisers describe as the path of the martyrs.

The agreement received little attention until the January signing ceremony, where it was formalised on behalf of Nablus by Dr Nehad Khanfar, a prominent figure in the Palestinian community in Britain.

Social media posts attributed to Khanfar, published on October 7, 2023, the day of the Hamas attacks, said that "some dreams have become closer to reality", with further posts on the first anniversary of the horrific day appearing to praise those who carried out the assault.

Dr Khanfar, a senior lecturer at the Islamic College, strongly rejected that interpretation, saying the claims made against him were “entirely false and without any foundation whatsoever”.

He accused the Times, which first reported the story, of a "deliberate and malicious misinterpretation" of his words, insisting the posts were abstract and poetic in nature and had been stripped of their cultural and linguistic context.

The lecturer maintained that the twinning agreement was a community-led initiative focused on cultural, educational and humanitarian exchange, and was not intended as a political statement.

Rabbi Alan Levin of Brondesbury Park synagogue had previously warned that the deal risked damaging community cohesion in one of Britain's most diverse boroughs, describing it as a "gratuitous and nakedly political initiative" that had left Jewish residents feeling excluded and marginalised.

The Rabbi’s comments triggered a counter-campaign from pro-Palestinian activists, who accused him of weaponising antisemitism, an accusation his supporters strongly rejected.

Conservative MP Bob Blackman, whose constituency covers parts of Brent, said the decision was "deeply ill judged", adding the twinning affiliated the area with a city "infamous for its links to Palestinian terrorism" and calling for ties to be severed immediately.

The Jewish Leadership Council said the agreement could not be divorced from the message it sent to the local Jewish community, particularly at a time of heightened anxiety following the October 7 attacks and the ongoing war in Gaza.

The organisation warned of a "desperate fracturing of community cohesion" since the attacks and a sharp rise in anti-Jewish hatred across Britain.

Brent Council has defended the decision, insisting that twinning arrangements were a long-established civic tradition used by councils across the country, with more than 1,500 such partnerships currently in place in the UK.

A council spokesman said the authority was "acutely aware" of the sensitivity of the issue and stressed that any civic twinning must be strictly non-political.

He said the Community Interest Company facilitating the arrangement operated independently of the council, but was governed by a memorandum of understanding that set clear legal, equality and safeguarding requirements, giving the council powers to review and monitor the arrangements closely.

Critics have questioned whether those safeguards are sufficient given the nature of the city chosen, and whether due diligence was carried out before the agreement was signed.

The decision was approved just months after the Hamas attacks of October 7, 2023, in which around 1,200 people were killed and 250 taken hostage, the deadliest day for Jewish people since the Holocaust.

The council has not indicated whether it intends to review the arrangement in light of the controversy, though pressure from MPs and community organisations is continuing to mount.

Brent is one of the most ethnically and religiously diverse boroughs in the country, home to significant Jewish, Muslim, Hindu and Caribbean communities.