Labour councillor calls for Coventry to twin with city in Gaza...

[dutchman]

Hundreds have backed a petition to twin Coventry with Khan Younis



Calls for Coventry to twin with a city in Gaza as war rages in the Middle East have gone before the council. A petition asking for the council to formally link the city with Khan Younis was presented to councillors this week.

The appeal, signed by more than 400 people, referred to the "brutal bombardment" of Coventry in the Second World War and said the situation is being "mirrored" in the Gazan city. "We believe it is only fitting due to our exceptional history that we twin Coventry City with Khan Younis and extend the hope for both peace and reconciliation," it added.

Labour councillor Shakila Nazir [pictured], who represents Foleshill, sponsored the petition, which was set up by a local resident. Addressing councillors on Tuesday (February 20), she spoke of the city's historic twin links, including with Stalingrad (now Volgograd) - though this was suspended in 2022 after Russia invaded Ukraine - and the German city of Kiel just two years after the end of the Second World War.

These links began and cemented the city's legacy as a city of peace and reconciliation, she said. Khan Younis is roughly the same size as Coventry, and has around 370,000 people, she said.

The e-petition raised on Coventry City Council's website was shared by the Coventry City of Peace and Reconciliation website.

Khan Younis is twinned with five European cities. The appeal comes more than five months after devastating war in the region broke out following an attack by Hamas militants which killed some 1,200 people and saw around 250 people taken hostage in southern Israel.

The besieged city has tunnel complexes that are claimed to have held Israeli hostages and is the hometown of Hamas' Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar.

The petition will go before a senior cabinet member after being presented in the chamber.