The biographies accompanying the portraits either omitted the atrocities associated with those depicted or presented them as acts of heroic martyrdom, The Telegraph said in its coverage of the exhibition on Sunday.
Khalil al-Wazir, for example, who was responsible for planning numerous terror attacks against civilians inside Israel – including the Coastal Road massacre – was celebrated as the “Prince of Martyrs”.
The exhibition also features non-militant figures including Palestinian educator Hind al-Husseini and Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akhleh.
In a video published on Facebook by the municipality, Nablus Mayor Dr Hussam Al-Shakhshir said the exhibition was intended to give those depicted “the recognition they deserve”.
"We greatly appreciate the role these figures played in the Palestinian national action sphere, and we say to people – hopefully we will learn from these figures,” he said.
[Missing Credit](Palestinian Media Watch)
The revelations have intensified scrutiny of Brent Council’s decision to twin with Nablus, approved in May last year, despite warnings from local Jewish residents that the move risked damaging community relations and cohesion.
Rabbi Baruch Levin, leader of the largest Jewish community in Brent, at the time of the twinning, said it was “controversial, damaging to community cohesion, divisive, destabilising, disruptive, inflammatory, and sectarian in nature”.
Nablus, he said, is “a hotbed of militancy, of hatred, of racism, of terrorism, and is the home of the notorious Lion’s Den terror group” and unsafe for most Brent residents to visit. The British Government advises against all but essential travel to the city.
[Missing Credit](Palestinian Media Watch)
Bob Blackman, the Conservative MP whose Harrow East constituency includes part of Brent, said reports that Nablus municipality had hosted an exhibition celebrating “notorious Palestinian terrorists” were deeply disturbing and called on Brent council to “urgently” investigate its twinning arrangement.
Writing to the leader of the council, Labour councillor Mohammed Butt, Blackman said: “Your council’s controversial decision to twin with Nablus has already had an adverse impact upon community relations within the area, with Jewish residents telling me that they have been left feeling marginalised and excluded as a direct consequence.”
Blackman argued that the controversy was at odds with Brent’s stated commitment to being a “truly inclusive” borough in which people of all backgrounds feel represented and included.
He added that the allegations came “against a backdrop of the heinous antisemitic attack in Golders Green and arson attacks across neighbouring boroughs”.
“Given the amount of time and effort invested by the council in twinning with Nablus, the latest revelation will understandably cause further distress to our borough’s beleaguered Jewish community”.
Mahendra Negi and Ian Collier, two Reform UK councillors in Brent, also wrote to Butt, arguing it was “difficult to reconcile a relationship with a municipality that permits the glorification of individuals responsible for such atrocities”.
Russel Langer, spokesperson for the Jewish Leadership Council, said the twinning arrangement could not be separated from the wider context following the October 7 attacks and the subsequent surge in antisemitism.
“Since October 7, we have seen a desperate fracturing of community cohesion alongside a sharp rise in anti-Jewish hatred,” he said. “Choosing to twin with such a city cannot be divorced from the message it sends to the local Jewish community,” he said.
A Brent Council spokesperson told the JC: “The council is clear that antisemitism and any celebration or justification of violence against Jewish people are wholly unacceptable.
“Civic twinning is a long-established local tradition intended to support lawful cultural, educational and community exchange.
“It does not mean the council endorses the actions, statements or events of partner authorities overseas. The twinning arrangement is facilitated independently, and the council is not organising, hosting or funding twinning events.
“The arrangement will remain under review to ensure it remains appropriate and consistent with the Council’s equality, cohesion and public interest responsibilities.”
