DUBLIN, Ireland (JTA) — Dublin’s new mayor has proposed twinning the Irish capital with Gaza in a gesture of "sympathy" with the Hamas-controlled territory.
The motion by Mayor Gerry Breen, which he filed as a city councillor before he was elected mayor in March, will be considered at a City Council meeting Monday night. If passed, the motion would clear the way for Dublin and Gaza to enter into a cooperative arrangement to promote cultural and commercial ties.
"My feeling was sympathy for the people of Gaza," Breen told Dublin’s Evening Herald newspaper. "There may not be any achievement in it, but it’s saying that we empathize with the plight of the inhabitants in that area. Other councillors have motioned criticism [of] Israel, and I think they’re 10 a penny, and I think that sometimes a positive is better than a negative."
Dublin is already twinned with Barcelona, Liverpool and San Jose, Calif. Gaza also is twinned with Barcelona, as well as five other cities, including Tel Aviv.
