By james art A Southern California town was presented this summer with a highly unusual proposal: “twinning” with the war-torn city of Gaza. Otherwise known as a sister city agreement, the proposed agreement would require recognition and establishment of diplomatic ties with a foreign terrorist organization.
In June, Gaza City Mayor Yahya Sarraj sent a letter to the city of Irvine, California, offering “exchange and economic cooperation” months after the Hamas-controlled government in Gaza was ousted and forced into hiding. Yet one of Irvine’s top elected officials — not Gaza’s mayor — initially proposed linking the two cities.
If approved, Irvine would become the first municipality in the United States to participate in a sister city program with Gaza.
The proposal raises serious questions about what could attract members of a US-designated terrorist group to seek a partnership with a city ranked among the top three places in North America to start a family. The offer also comes after months of tense public hearings at Irvine City Hall that centered around the Israel-Hamas war and featured masked agitators spewing anti-Semitic hate speech.
Amid sun-drenched public parks and sprawling university campuses, the city of Irvine stands in stark contrast to Gaza City, a territory largely reduced to rubble in recent months of fighting. For the wealthiest Orange County residents who call Irvine home, Gaza City might as well be in another galaxy. Separated by 7,500 miles, Irvine is the safest city of its size in the United States, while Gaza is a breeding ground for anti-Semitic indoctrination, where locals welcomed the arrival of bloodied hostages and dismembered corpses on October 7.
Despite these differences, Mayor Sarraj emailed his Irvine counterpart, Mayor Farah Khan, with an ambitious plan that includes cultural and academic exchanges, trade partnerships, “joint tourism campaigns” and even “environmental protection” initiatives. The undated letter, which Sarraj’s office confirmed was sent on June 10, bears the signature of the Palestinian mayor and a stamped seal from the Gaza municipality.
SARAZ IS anything but an ordinary civil servant. In a move criticized in the Palestinian territories as anti-democratic, Hamas appointed him mayor in 2019. Israeli authorities have accused Sarraj of allowing the Islamic Jihad terrorist group to fire rockets from a municipal building on August 7, 2022, leading to the disruption of the arson that killed two Palestinian civilians.
After Israel began operating in Gaza on the heels of the October 7 massacre, critics were attacked New York Times for printing an opinion piece by Sarraj denouncing the “senseless destruction” of his city, with one commenter questioning the legality of providing “material aid” to a “senior official of a foreign terrorist organization.”
The offer is unanswered
So far, Sarraj’s proposal to Mayor Khan has gone unanswered, according to a spokesman named in the Hamas appointee’s letter. Khan did not respond to emails asking if her office intended to accept the Hamas offer. However, the twinning initiative may not have originated with Gaza, but with Irvine Deputy Mayor Larry Agran.
A political figure in Irvine, Agran has served multiple terms as a city council member and mayor since 1978. He is a long-time proponent of the theory of public policy “leakage,” or the use of municipal politics to influence global affairs, a strategy that has been criticized for infringing on the foreign policy prerogatives of the federal government.
“Maybe someday it will actually be possible for the city of Irvine to have a sister relationship with the city of Gaza,” Agran said during a Jan. 24 City Council hearing. He was interrupted by chants of anti-Israel protesters before adding “– and Tel Aviv too.”
“I’m not sure, but I would guess that Larry Agran’s suggestion at the council meeting opened the door to possibilities [of a sister city agreement],” City Councilwoman Tammy Kim (D) wrote in an email.
When asked about the sister city deal, City Councilwoman Kathleen Treseder (D) wouldn’t speculate on whether Agran’s invitation prompted the Gaza City proposal. However, she offered another option.
“To my shame and embarrassment, news of Mayor Kahn and Deputy Mayor Agran’s promotion of anti-Semitism and hate speech at our council meetings has spread widely, even internationally,” Trezeder said in an email.
She was referring to months of public hearings surrounding the so-called cease-fire resolution related to the Israel-Hamas war.
The bill brought masked agitators who for months rumbled through Irvine City Hall, brandishing bloodied babies and interrupting council meetings with chants and outbursts.
In council hearings that lasted into the early hours of the morning, anti-Israel activists accused New York Jews of running an underground child sex ring and referred to Israel as a “sanctuary for pedophiles.” Others repeated anti-Semitic tropes about Israelis stealing the organs of dead Palestinians, and some speakers vowed to harass city council members in their homes unless they approved the resolution.
Kim and Treseder, who voted against Irvine’s cease-fire bill in February, agreed that twinning is not in the best interest of Irvine residents.
“Our city should not cement a relationship with terrorists,” Treseder said, adding that it “physically disgusts me to receive direct communication from a Hamas agent.”
“I cannot in good conscience ask any of our staff to travel to Gaza as part of a sister city relationship,” he explained.
In reality, Saraj’s sister city ambitions were dead on arrival.
“Municipal staff and the mayor are finding it increasingly challenging to work from the municipal building or on the street,” Sarraj’s spokesman admitted.
That’s quite an understatement. With senior Hamas leaders killed or on the run and government offices reduced to hijacking and hoarding humanitarian aid, Gaza City has no permanent government with which to negotiate a sister city agreement.
If Khan and Agran insist on an alliance with Gaza, they must reach out to the IDF, which controls large parts of Gaza City, to strike a deal.
The writer is director of MEF Action, an advocacy project of the Middle East Forum.