Council's Bethlehem link angers NSW Jewish Board of Deputies

June 13, 2007

A Sydney council's decision to form a sister city relationship with Bethlehem has outraged members of the Jewish community.

They say the move is akin to supporting terrorism.

Marrickville Council, in Sydney's inner west, has had an in-principle agreement since 2001 with the Palestinian city believed by some Christian scholars to have been the birthplace of Jesus Christ, although others say it was not.

The agreement is due to be formally ratified at a council meeting next Tuesday.

Councillor Sam Iskandar said the city had been chosen as a symbol of love, peace and harmony, but the Jewish community say it is anything but.

NSW Jewish Board of Deputies chief executive Vic Alhadeff said Bethlehem Council was controlled by members of the terrorist organisations Hamas and Islamic Jihad, which support the killing of Jews.

A delegation from Bethlehem Council is due to visit Sydney in late August to sign the agreement and hold discussions with Marrickville Council.

Mr Alhadeff said this could give a platform for Hamas members to spread anti-Jewish propaganda.

"A Bethlehem delegation could include Hamas members," he said.

"This means an international guest could address a public meeting hosted by this council and call for the destruction of Israel and death to the Jews."

Mr Alhadeff is also concerned that funds provided by Marrickville Council could end up in Hamas coffers, supporting terrorist activity.

He said the council should choose a politically neutral middle-eastern city to foster relations with.

"If councils like Marrickville wanted to get involved and promote peace and reconciliation why not choose an Arab Israeli town, so it's not a partisan position?" Mr Alhadeff said.

But Mr Iskandar, who chairs the council's community services committee, said the proposal for Bethlehem to be a sister city had come from residents and had been unanimously passed.

"It was chosen because it was the city which symbolised love and peace and harmony," he said.

"We look at this relationship between Marrickville and Bethlehem to be a very good relationship between the two communities, and we want to send a message that people can work with people and they can have good relations ... and that is the spirit of the sister city movement."

Mr Iskandar denied the council would provide any funds to Bethlehem Council as part of the arrangement.

"It's very cheap propaganda to say this, because the council will not give money to other councils," he said.

"The relationship is not really about supporting Hamas or Islamic Jihad - we are not about politics."

Mr Iskandar said the council would be open to developing a sister city relationship with an Israeli city, if that was what the Marrickville community wanted.

He said the council hoped the relationship with Bethlehem would in some small way aid the peace process in the region.

"We would like, if we can with our very humble contribution, to help the peace coming back to the Middle East and in particular to that city," he said.

© 2007 AAP