Wednesday - February 25, 2009

Worcester becomes first city in Britain to be twinned… with Gaza.  (touchy-feely stuff)

Well now you can see after reading how romantic these thoughts are. GAK.
Maybe the chapter in my last post is the last after all.
Very liberal thinkers over here.

Worcester becomes first city in Britain to be twinned… with Gaza

By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 6:32 PM on 25th February 2009

They could hardly be more different: one is a picturesque cathedral city in the heart of rural England - the other a grief stricken warzone in the Middle East.

But Worcester, famous as the birthplace of composer Sir Edward Elgar, is on the verge of becoming the first city in Britain to be twinned with with Gaza City.

The council’s Twinning Association is now considering an application which could be passed in the next few months.

An amended motion put forward by Cllr Alan Amos was strongly passed at a council meeting on Tuesday night.

Just six councillors opposing the move out of 35 voters.

Cllr Alan Amos said: ‘Like many I have watched the plight of the people of Gaza, seeing them get bombed and bombed by Israelis with advanced military weapons.

‘But rather than sit there thinking ‘isn’t that terrible’ I really wanted to do something about it.

‘At a local government level it is obviously hard to influence foreign policy, so we wanted to bring people together to show a gesture of solidarity - so Gaza could look at us and see that the whole world isn’t against them, there are people who understand their plight and think what is happening to them is unacceptable.

‘We have made history in doing this, although that’s not what we set out to do. We have done something very memorable and we are very optimistic that this will go ahead.

‘It is a humanitarian gesture and not a political move.’

Any further discussion of the issue now rests with members of the twinning committee who have already fostered successful links with Kleve, in Germany, Le Vesinet, France and more recently Worcester, Massechsetts, in the United States.

Residents have given a mixed response to the proposal.

Nick Walton, 29, said: ‘It is a nice idea, but I’m not sure what it is going to achieve.

‘There are lots of cities all over the world who are enduring similar problems and to single one out for help is not exactly an impartial approach.

‘If we are going to be making cultural exchanges it is going to be interesting because I don’t think you could find two places which are more different.’

Sandra Thompson, 62, added: ‘If there are some positive outcomes for the people of Gaza City then I am 100 per cent behind the idea. People in Worcester are very lucky to live in a very peaceful, conflict-free environment and it is easy to forget about those who aren’t as fortunate.’

(Uh huh. Wait till a million of em live among you in your city and we’ll see how peaceful it is then.)

Worcester has a population of 93,700 and is also famous for the New Road Cricket Ground, Royal Worcester Porcelain and Lea and Perrins Worcestershire Sauce.

Gaza City has a population of 410,000 making it the largest city under the control of the Palestinian National Authority.

The city was the target of an Israeli bombing campaign earlier this year, sparked after rockets were launched from the territory into neighbouring Israel.

That action followed an earlier Israeli blockade of the coastal city which lasted for more than a year.

The city is currently controlled by Hamas, which were elected by Gazans at the polls.

However the group is listed as a terrorist organisation by both the European Union and the United States of America.

PHOTOS

Posted by peiper     on 02/25/2009 at 02:41 PM   
Filed Under: • Stoopid-People • UK •  
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