We call upon Edinburgh to twin with Gaza City in the same way we are currently twinned with Munich, Xi’an, Vancouver, Santiago, Nice, Krakow, etc.Twinning could give joint economic development arrangements which Gaza City, in its current impoverished state, would clearly benefit from. At present Gaza City is twinned with Tel Aviv, Israel; Dunkirk, France; Turin, Italy; Tabriz, Iran; Tromsø, Norway; Cascais, Portugal; Barcelona, Spain; the most recent being Cáceres, Spain in 2010.However, Britain, having been to some extent the architect of the Palestinian’s misfortune by having gifted the beginnings of what is now Israel to Zionists through the 1917 Balfour Declaration, surely owes the Palestinians some recompense. Edinburgh, as the home university of Arthur Balfour, can play its part in helping acknowledge Britain’s historical responsibilities in the Holy Land. For Edinburgh Council to take this step to help the refugees of Gaza City could be the beginning of the UK beginning to take responsibility for the situation it helped create in the Middle East. The majority of Palestinians living in Gaza City are refugees who had to leave their homes when Israel was established. All they want is to be able to live in freedom and to return to the land their families came from.We can offer joint civil undertakings to help develop opportunities for the people living through terrible conditions there. By twinning, the City of Edinburgh can show the people of Gaza City they are not alone, and that Scottish people see their pain and care for their future wellbeing.
