Sacramento-Ashekelon: Sister Cities
Latest update: August 16th, 2012
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Panetta(l) and Barak(r) deliver statements in Ashkelon. An Iron Dome rocket shield is behind them. Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2012.
Photo Credit: Tsafrir Abayov/Flash90
To a packed Council Chamber, the Sacramento City Council voted unanimously on Tuesday night to name Ashkelon as a sister city.
JewishPress.com first reported the story here, when anti-Israel activists began a campaign to block the decision.
The activists did not note the irony that Bethlehem, a city under Palestinian control that actually does have Apartheid laws against Jews, is also a sister city to Sacramento.
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Thank you Sacramento for making Ashkelon, Israel your sister city. Just as you signaled solidarity with the Palestinian people by previously making Bethlehem your sister city, the Jewish people also appreciate your support.
Ashkelon, as a part of Israel is not disputed by the Palestinian Authority. But other Palestinians, such as many of those that spoke out against the sister city move dispute the right of Israel to exist entirely.
They agree with the Palestinians from the Hamas ruled Gaza Strip that innocent civilians should be killed on a regular basis in Ashkelon by missile attacks.
While claiming that Palestinian refugees are entirely the fault of Israel, they believe it would be just to kill those Jews that they could not expel from Israel.
I believe the issue of what happened to the refugees in the era of the creation of Israel is not so black and white. Almost a million Jews from Arab areas became refugees at that time. Many Palestinian refugees left voluntarily or under Arab orders. The state of war was initiated by the Arab side that attacked the nascent State of Israel. Larger similar population transfers occurred in that decade in Europe and India and there is absolutely no protest.
This issue and many more form the basis of the quest for a peaceful compromise between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. With your support, I pray that a peaceful solution will be negotiated one day.