Toledo: Don't form a Sister City with Akko [Israel]!

Toledo City Council and Chief of Staff Catherine Crosby

City Council recently posted on social media that Toledo is considering a Sister City relationship with Akko. Toledo held a meeting with Israeli officials, though many Akko residents identify as Palestinian.

The wording of the post alone dismisses the sovereignty of Palestinians, and suggests that City Council is overlooking Israeli occupation. Sign the petition to tell City Council and Chief of Staff Catherine Crosby that Toledo residents cannot support human right abuses, and we do not support this initiative.

Add your name to the growing list of Toledoans for human dignity!

To: Toledo City Council and Chief of Staff Catherine Crosby
From: [Your Name]

We are writing in response to a social media post that highlights a meeting with a delegation from Akko, where the parties are contemplating the formation of a Sister City alliance. Given the position of Israel's government toward the Palestinian people, we respectfully ask that you reconsider such a proposal. To follow through would be dismissive of the realities faced by Palestinian residents in Toledo, many of whom are refugees since Israel’s invasion.

City Council’s decision comes as an insensitive development. Though the current Administration recognizes Israel as a sovereign nation, it does not mean that Toledo must follow suit. We do not expect that the current public relevance of the Human Rights violations at the hands of Israel’s government has been lost on you.

According to the 2018 report published by Human Rights Watch, “[Israel's] occupation of the West Bank and Gaza involves systematic rights abuses, including collective punishment, routine use of excessive lethal force, and prolonged administrative detention without charge or trial for hundreds.”

Akko, also known as Acre, is currently made up of a 28% Arab population, but the old city is 100% Arab. Please take a moment to digest that figure. Tensions are high as Arab residents are feeling targeted via economic and political methods. The description of “exemplary coexistence” in your social media post is in direct opposition to what activists on the ground have voiced. Ja'far Farah for the Civil Rights Organization Mossawa summarized it this way: "The settlers want to prove that the conflict is not just about the [West Bank] but all of Israel. They are targeting mixed cities in an attempt to prove there is no future for coexistence." By forming a Sister City alliance with Akko, Toledo would be complicit in legitimizing a colonial settlement that normalizes the use of violence against Palestinians, and the establishment of an apartheid state.

Finally, we would hope that our words are not interpreted as a stance against the Jewish community. Our commitment to the eradication of discriminatory practices against any collective does not exclude the denouncement of antisemitism, as it, too, is dehumanizing and inexcusable.

Again, we ask for your reconsideration for the sake of your Palestinian residents, and for the sake of human rights.

Respectfully,
Your Constituents