Why London’s Hackney Council wants to repeal its ‘twin’ status with Haifa

East London’s Hackney Council is to vote on a motion to “de-twin” from Israel’s Haifa after almost six decades in protest against Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.The London Borough of Hackney and Israel’s third largest city, which is north of Tel Aviv on the Mediterranean coast, made a twinning declaration on July 26, 1968, pledging to encourage “friendly contacts and exchanges between the ordinary citizens”.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Thousands rally in London in support of Gaza, demand new PM take actionlist 2 of 3Andy Burnham’s in-tray: The challenges facing the new UK PMlist 3 of 3‘Active in BDS’: Document reveals how Israel scrutinised global NGOsend of listThe arrangement was part of a longstanding tradition for cities in the United Kingdom to pair up with foreign cities in a bid to encourage cultural exchanges, trade and tourism between them.According to the council, the agreement with Haifa has been “dormant” since the COVID-19 pandemic and the council “will not engage in any twinning activity with Haifa whilst conflict is ongoing”.During local elections in May, which saw the Green Party take over control of Hackney Council from the ruling Labour Party, the...