The Council meeting will be held on Zoom and will be televised using the Council’s webcasting service, so it will be accessible to all and will continue to be available from the Council website after the meeting.
The petitioner, Pete Gregson, will be making the case for twinning and is asking for Edinburgh’s citizens to write to their local Councillors, asking them to support the bid. You can see the form letter you can use- and an easy way to find out who your local Councillor is- and how to mail it to them- at our website here.
And here is the letter from the Council that we feared would never come! Our petition had been deleted from the Council website. We shall never know. But here is the official confirmation that our bid is to be discussed on the 29th.
It’s important to remember that there will be nothing about Twinning with Gaza on the Council website. Even a search for the agenda for the Policy Committee meeting on the 29th will not be findable. This is because the Council only publishes the agenda a week before the meeting takes place. So, late on the 22nd March, the agenda for the 29th will be published and it will be there in writing that the petition to get Edinburgh twinned with Gaza will be on the agenda, beginning at 10am. If you want to be kept up to date on when exactly the papers will be published and how to find the link to them, please send an email to info@twingaza.com and you’ll be added to the mailing list for updates.
The petitioner (Pete) seeks letters of support from sympathetic bodies. Usually the Council permits deputations to speak in support of petitions and Pete hopes that any group supporting Palestine in Edinburgh will join with him and offer their support- usually up to 10 minutes each is allowed. Thus far the Muslim Women’s Association of Edinburgh, Tommy Sheppard MP, Dr Philippa Whitford MP, Cllr Padraig Pearse McShane (Causeway Coast & Glens Council), Interfaith for Palestine UK, Scotland Against Criminalising Communities (SACC), Husam Zomlot (UK Palestinian Ambassador to the UK), Gaza Sky Geeks and Dr. Yahya Sarraj, Mayor of Gaza City have pledged support. If you think you can assist with this, please get in touch by emailing info@twingaza.com
Success is within our grasp: click to see what chance do we have?
RALLY FOR GAZA
Please come to a rally at Edinburgh City Chambers on the High Street on Wednesday 23rd March, from 10am to 12 noon. Whilst the Council pitch itself will take place on the internet, this actual, physical, rally will take place at the City Chambers six days beforehand, which is really a media opportunity, as the Council business for the Policy meeting will have been published the day before. We will have a PA- friends from Gaza- and anyone else who wants to- can help address the crowd. That is what will capture media interest – TV, radio, the newspapers. We hope that people will bring placards and banners to show support. There will be Dibke dancing! Think of it as a party for Gaza. The rally will mark the launch of our 6-day media campaign.
Letter writing- to your Councillors and the newspapers- will help: any support you can offer will make all the difference to the people of Gaza!
On Sunday 27th February 2022, the petitioner held the first 90-minute Zoom conversation with Mohammed AlShaqra, the International Cooperation coordinator at the Municipality of Gaza. Over the next few weeks, Mohammed has committed to fleshing out how twinning would work, what we could share, and how we can move forward as two great cities together. The page on this website headed “Why Twin” will be regularly updated as this conversation develops.
The mayor of Gaza first wrote to us two years ago, declaring his support for our plan:
Many in Gaza have also signed our sister petition, from Gazan people to City Leader Cllr Adam McVey and Lord Provost Cllr Frank Ross, seeking a twinning. You can see the petition (half of it in Arabic) at https://chng.it/Pgrwn7qM
