Outrage from Jewish locals as politician demands seaside town drops twin link with Israel

A Green Party councillor has said Bournemouth should end its long-standing twinning with an Israeli city to protect its “reputation” amid the war in Gaza, prompting fury from members of the Jewish community.

Joe Salmon, who sits on Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council, put forward a motion the for the Dorset town to drop its links with the western Israeli city of Netanya with which it has been twinned since 1995.

Salmon claimed the “plausible case" against Israel for genocide raised by South Africa at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) meant Bournemouth should end the association.

The move comes after signs celebrating the twin link between Netanya and Bournemouth were removed from various locations in Dorset as part of a co-ordinated campaign, The Telegraph reports.

Salmon's proposal brought an angry response from members of Bournemouth’s Jewish community with dozens of pro-Israel demonstrators counter-protesting as the meeting took place in the town hall, with pro-Palestine supporters on the streets in recent weeks to back the change.

The Bournemouth Charter Trustees ultimately decided the motion to de-twin the two communities fell outside its remit, after taking legal advice.

Mayor George Farquhar said the group was a non-political body that exists to promote the historic and ceremonial duties of the town.

But he said a civic working group will be established to review the scope of the trustees to make decisions of this kind.

Salmon had argued that the twinning initiative was "rooted in fostering mutual respect, cultural exchange and the promotion of peace and understanding" but criticised what he described as Israel's "apartheid" as he opposed the link.

"When the actions and policies of a sister town's nation contradict these values, it becomes imperative to reconsider and potentially sever such ties," he said.

"Currently, the ongoing human rights violations, system of apartheid imposed on Palestinians in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories and the plausible case for genocide... necessitate a reassessment of our twinning relationship with our sister town in Israel."

Henry Schachter, a Holocaust survivor and member of the town's Jewish community, said: "We have been keeping a very low profile so as not to antagonise the Palestinian supporter group.

"But after nine months of this protesting, Jewish people are starting to get a bit fed up. It's time we have a little bit of kickback."

Meanwhile, Stephen White of the Bournemouth Community Hebrew Congregation said the group also strongly opposed the move.

But a Bournemouth Palestine Solidarity Movement spokesperson said they would continue their push to end the relationship with Netanya.

“Although the motion was removed from the agenda, our fight to untwin Bournemouth from the apartheid regime on trial for genocide continues," a spokesperson said.

“Racism, anti-Semitism, apartheid, and genocide are not the principles on which the people of BCP stand.”