Brussels commune suspends twinning with Israeli town of Megiddo

The decision was hailed as a ”success” for the anti-Israel BDS movement.

Ixelles, one of the 19 municipalities of Belgium’s Brussels-Capital Region, has suspended its twinning with the Israeli town of Megiddo. 

The suspension, which was decided upon in July, has been confirmed by Ixelles Mayor Christos Doulkeridis of the Green Party. In the eyes of municipal authorities, any action in favor of peace involving an Israeli municipality is impossible for the time being, he told Belgian news agency Belga.

On June 20, around 100 pro-Palestinian activists  demonstrated in the municipality to call for an end to the twinning arrangement, a demand made by a coalition of leftist organizations.

The municipality stated in its decision that “it is unable to carry out any credible initiative in the direction of dialogue and peace,” and considered that simply maintaining the twinning arrangement “could be interpreted as approval of the policy currently pursued by the State of Israel.”

The municipality cited “the scale and duration of the Israeli government’s response in the Gaza Strip” following Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre, “the many civilian victims,” the “pronouncements of the International Court of Justice” and “the relentless pursuit of the settlement policy.”

The Belgian-Palestinian Association welcomed what it called “the strong gesture of responsibility on the part of the local authorities.” It hailed the decision as a “success” for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.

Megiddo lies some 90 kilometers (56 miles) north of Jerusalem and 31 kilometers (19.3 miles) southwest of Haifa. It overlooks the Jezreel Valley to the north and is an important crossroads on the main road linking central Israel with the Lower Galilee and the northern region of the country.

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

Photo : Hatim Kaghat/BELGA MAG/AFP via Getty