The National Jewish Assembly condemns the Hackney Green Party’s decision to press ahead with proposals to end the borough’s longstanding twinning relationship with Haifa.
This proposal is not about promoting peace or encouraging dialogue. It does precisely the opposite. Town twinning exists to foster friendship, understanding and cooperation between communities, particularly during difficult times. Choosing to sever those ties sends entirely the wrong message.
It is especially disturbing that the Greens have chosen to target Haifa, a city widely recognised as one of Israel’s foremost examples of coexistence. Jewish and Arab citizens live, work and study alongside one another, sharing hospitals, universities, businesses and public institutions. If there is one Israeli city that demonstrates the possibility of peaceful coexistence, it is Haifa. Targeting Haifa does not advance peace; it targets one of the clearest real world examples of Jews and Arabs living, working and thriving together in a shared society.
For decades, the Hackney Haifa partnership has supported educational, cultural and medical exchanges that have benefited both communities. Ending that relationship will do nothing to improve the lives of people in Hackney, nothing to advance peace in the Middle East, and nothing to encourage coexistence. What it will do is further embolden those who seek to isolate and delegitimise the world’s only Jewish state. Those who genuinely want to promote coexistence should be celebrating cities like Haifa, not seeking to isolate them.
This is not a principled campaign for human rights. If it were, the Green Party would be applying the same standard to authoritarian regimes across the world. Instead, it has once again chosen to single out Israel alone, reinforcing the perception that the Jewish state is judged by standards applied to no other democracy.
This is far from the first time that the Green Party has chosen to make Israel the focus of its political campaigning. While residents rightly expect their local council to concentrate on the services and challenges affecting everyday life in Hackney, the Green administration continues to devote its political energy to symbolic campaigns against the Jewish state. This persistent singling out of Israel raises serious questions about the party’s priorities and the consistency of the principles it claims to uphold.
If the Greens genuinely believe in coexistence, they should be strengthening ties with Haifa, not severing them.
At a time when communities should be building bridges, not burning them, targeting Haifa sends precisely the wrong message. The National Jewish Assembly will continue to stand for dialogue, coexistence and partnerships that bring people together rather than divide them.
