Gaza City: Twinning With Irvine, California?

(No!)

Hat tip Middle East Forum and Islamist Watch

This article first appeared in New English  Review.

I am cross-posting an intriguing article by Benjamin Baird in Middle East Forum/Islamist Watch on the efforts of Gaza City to establish a twin city relationship with Irvine, California.

I note with interest the apparent interest of Irvine politician, Larry Agram, in this proposal. For decades, Agran has alternated between being the mayor of Irvine and a city council member. He is considered the “man to see” in Irvine politics. A real “mover” if you get my drift.

Living very close to Irvine and having taught part-time at the University of California at Irvine (UCI), I am very familiar with the area. It is a bedroom community that was incorporated as a city only in the 1960s. In recent years, the area has become more cosmopolitan, but between homes, shopping, restaurants, hospitals, and UC Irvine (and Irvine Community College). it’s hard to view it as a city in the traditional sense.

The way I see it, there is only one reason Gaza would reach out to Irvine. The University of California at Irvine for over two decades has been home to an aggressive push by the Muslim Student Union and Students for Justice in Palestine chapters in their movement against the state of Israel. For years, these two groups have invited a plethora of speakers to campus to trash the Jewish state and all-too-often insult Jews as well. To make things worse, pro-Israel events by Jewish and conservative students have been regularly disrupted by the aforementioned groups. The plight of Jewish students on the UCI campus has been well documented on this site since 2007. In addition, Irvine has seen an increase in the number of Arab/Muslim residents over the years. As pointed out in the article, Irvine City Council meetings have long been plagued by the presence of pro-Hamas characters pushing the anti-Israel agenda. 

Not surprisingly, anti-Semitic incidents at UCI have occurred over the past couple of decades, incidents which have been noted by the Israeli media and apparently, by Palestinians as well. The latter obviously feel they have a strong lobby in Irvine and want to build on it.

In light of the events of October 7, 2023, should the Irvine City Council accept this invitation, we can only conclude that they are in total sympathy with the terrorist forces in Gaza  (Hamas) who committed the worst anti-Jewish atrocity since World War 2, and who continue in their efforts to destroy Israel and murder every Jew living there. Should Irvine enter into such a relationship. they might as well enter into a similar relationship with Hezbollah in Beiruit, the mullahs in Tehran, and the Houthis in whatever city they call their stronghold in Yemen. In the wake of October 7, 2023 and the past year’s pro-Hamas protests at UCI with the disgraceful encampment that had to be broken up by police, it would send a message that Irvine does not stand with its Jewish residents and is indifferent to the wave of anti-Semitism that has plagued the city (and the nation) for a year now.

This approach by Gaza City must be rejected if there is any decency left in Irvine.