Mick Hartley

The twinning happened because Hackney’s large Jewish community had family and personal links there. Haifa is a famously left-wing city (ironically the Israeli Greens are quite strong there) that is a model for coexistence between Jews and Arabs. The twinning arrangement includes medical exchanges between the Homerton and Rambam hospitals. If you want peace between Israel and the Palestinians you should support initiatives that bring people together and create understanding, not cancel or boycott them.