Is Hamas seeking a sister city pact with a California city? - opinion

A Southern California city was presented with a very unusual proposal this summer: a “twinning relationship” with war-torn Gaza City. The proposed deal, also known as a sister city agreement, would require the recognition and establishment of diplomatic ties with a foreign terrorist organization.

In June, Gaza City Mayor Yahya Sarraj sent a letter to the city of Irvine, California, proposing “exchange and economic cooperation” months after the Hamas-controlled government in Gaza was overthrown and forced underground. Yet it was one of Irvine’s own senior elected officials – not Gaza’s mayor – who initially proposed connecting the two cities.

If accepted, Irvine would become the first community in the United States to participate in a sister city program with Gaza.

The proposal raises serious questions about what might have prompted members of a U.S.-designated terrorist group to seek a partnership with a city that is among the top three places in North America to raise a family. The offer also comes after months of tense public hearings at Irvine City Hall that focused on the war between Israel and Hamas, with masked agitators spewing anti-Semitic hate speech.

Amid sun-drenched public parks and sprawling university campuses, the city of Irvine stands in stark contrast to Gaza City, an area largely reduced to ruins in recent months of fighting. For the mostly affluent residents of Orange County who call Irvine home, Gaza City might as well be in another galaxy. At 7,500 miles, Irvine is the safest city of its size in the United States, while Gaza is a breeding ground for anti-Semitic indoctrination, where locals cheer the arrival of bloodied hostages and dismembered corpses. October 7.

Police officers clash with pro-Palestinian protesters at the University of California at Irvine (UCI) on May 15, 2024 in Irvine, California. (credit: Qian Weizhong/VCG via Getty Images)

Despite these differences, Mayor Sarraj emailed his Irvine counterpart, Mayor Farrah Khan, with an ambitious plan that includes cultural and academic exchanges, trade partnerships, “joint tourism campaigns” and even “environmental conservation” initiatives. The undated letter, which Sarraj’s office confirmed was sent on June 10, bears the signature of the Palestinian mayor and a stamped seal of the Gaza Municipality.

SARRAJ IS anything but a simple civil servant. In a move criticized as anti-democratic within the Palestinian territories, Hamas appointed him mayor in 2019. Israeli authorities blamed Sarraj for allowing the terrorist group Islamic Jihad to fire rockets from a municipal building on August 7, 2022, resulting in a misfire that killed two Palestinian civilians.

After Israel began operating in Gaza following the October 7 massacre, critics attacked the country The New York Times for printing an op-ed by Sarraj decrying the “mindless destruction” of his city, with one commentator questioning the legality of providing “material assistance” to “a senior official of a foreign terrorist organization.”

The proposal has gone unanswered

So far, Sarraj’s proposal to Mayor Khan has gone unanswered, according to a spokesperson cited in the Hamas appointee’s letter. Khan did not respond to emails asking whether her office planned to accept Hamas’s proposal. However, the twinning initiative may not have come from Gaza, but from Irvine’s own Vice Mayor Larry Agran.

Agran, a political fixture in Irvine, has served as a city councilor and mayor on and off since 1978. He has been a longtime advocate of the “trickle up” theory of public policy, or the use of municipal politics to influence global affairs, a strategy that has been criticized for infringing on the federal government’s prerogatives in the area of foreign policy.

Stay up to date with the latest news!

Subscribe to the Jerusalem Post newsletter

“Maybe one day it would actually be possible for the city of Irvine to have a sister city relationship with Gaza City,” Agran said during a Jan. 24 City Council hearing. He was interrupted by cheers from anti-Israel protesters, before adding: “- And Tel Avivalso.”

“I’m not sure, but I’m assuming that Larry Agran’s suggestion at the council meeting opened the door to the possibilities (of a sister city agreement),” Councilmember Tammy Kim (D) wrote in an email.

When asked about the sister city agreement, City Council Member Kathleen Treseder (D) declined to speculate on whether Agran’s invitation prompted Gaza City’s proposal. However, she suggested another possibility.

“To my shame and embarrassment, news of Mayor Khan and Vice Mayor Agran’s encouragement of anti-Semitism and hate speech during our council meetings has spread widely, even internationally,” Treseder said in an email.

She was referring to months of public hearings surrounding a so-called ceasefire resolution regarding the war between Israel and Hamas.

The bill brought masked agitators who shouted at Irvine City Hall for months, brandishing bloodied baby figures and disrupting council meetings with chants and outbursts.

During council hearings that stretched into the early morning hours, anti-Israel activists accused New York Jews of running an underground child sex ring and referred to Israel as a “haven for pedophiles.” Others repeated anti-Semitic statements about Israelis stealing the organs of dead Palestinians, and some speakers vowed to harass city council members at home unless they passed the resolution.

Kim and Treseder, who voted against the Irvine ceasefire bill in February, both agreed that the twinning relationship was not in the best interests of Irvine residents.

“Our city should not be strengthening relations with terrorists,” Treseder said, adding that “it physically disgusts me to receive direct communications from a Hamas operative.”

“I cannot in good conscience ask any of our employees to travel to Gaza as part of a sister city relationship,” he explained.

In reality, Sarraj’s ambitions were dead on arrival.

“It is becoming increasingly challenging for municipal employees and the mayor to work from the municipal building or on the street,” Sarraj’s spokesperson admits.

That’s quite an understatement. With Hamas’ top leaders killed or on the run and government authorities limited to hijacking and hoarding humanitarian aid, there is no permanent government in Gaza City with which to negotiate a sister city agreement.

If Khan and Agran insist on a union with Gazathey must contact the IDF, which controls large parts of Gaza City, to reach a deal.

The writer is director of MEF Action, an advocacy project of the Middle East Forum.