28 Aug Richmond Approves Sebastia, Palestine, as New Sister City

A view of Sebastia, Palestine, Richmond’s newest sister city, shown at Tuesday’s City Council meeting. (Screenshot captured by Samantha Kennedy / The CC Pulse)

By Samantha Kennedy

Nearly two years after being the first city in the country to call for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, Richmond officials are strengthening ties to the region.

The Richmond City Council on Tuesday approved a sister city partnership with Sebastia, Palestine, located in the West Bank and where more than 3,000 live. According to Al Jazeera, Sebastia is “home to the West Bank’s largest open archaeological site” and believed to be John the Baptist’s burial site, making it a pilgrimage destination for Christians.

“This partnership stands as a symbol of peace, unity and mutual respect,” said council member Claudia Jimenez, who co-sponsored the proposal with Mayor Eduardo Martinez and council member Soheila Bana. “It affirms our commitment to justice and human rights and shows our city is not indifferent to the suffering endured by our brothers and sisters in Palestine.

The partnership comes after more than 300 people petitioned the city to establish the partnership to promote cultural exchange and enrich the two through “people-to-people connections, shared learning, and lasting bonds of cooperation,” according to the Change.org petition. 

The city has other sister city partnerships with municipalities in China, Cuba and Japan, which promote connections and activities with Richmond.

The Richmond Progressive Alliance — which Martinez and Jimenez are affiliated with — and the Palestine Youth Movement worked with the mayor to establish the partnership, the latter organization said in a statement ahead of the vote.

“As we approach two years of the livestreamed mass displacement, ethnic cleansing, and genocide of the Palestinian people by Israel, it is nearly impossible to not feel immense grief and helplessness,” the RPA said in the statement.

The city’s resolution following the events of Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked Israel and the country retaliated, caused hours of division between residents at the Oct. 24, 2023 meeting where it was passed.

Richmond leaders were some of the first in the country to officially call the conflict ethnic cleansing and genocide, and a report from the United Nations Special Committee found last year that Israel’s actions in Gaza are “consistent with genocide.”

Since October 2023, more than 60,000 Palestinians have been killed in the region. Contributing to the deaths are what PBS calls “near-daily” Israeli airstrikes, malnutrition-related issues, and dwindling healthcare access. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification confirmed a famine in Gaza last week.

Israel has denied recent allegations of genocide, ethnic cleansing and famine since the decades-old conflict escalated on Oct. 7, 2023.

But unlike the city’s ceasefire resolution, the Council on American-Islamic Relations said the partnership is not just symbolic.

“It opens pathways for cultural exchange, connection, and the chance for Richmond to stand in solidarity with a community struggling to preserve its heritage and future in the face of ethnic cleansing and genocide,” a spokesperson for the council said at the meeting.

Council member Cesar Zepeda, the lone vote against the proposal, suggested the council instead establish a partnership with Nablus because he felt it would pose fewer challenges and was more similar to Richmond.

“Nablus has full Palestinian civilian and security control. That’s very important as we’re trying to start a relationship with the Palestinian government and community there,” said Zepeda. “Sebastia is under Palestinian civilian control, but Israeli security control. So for us to gain access to the locations if we were to visit, it would be a lot more challenging.”

Zepeda also pointed to the population of Nablus, more than 170,000 people, as being closer to the size of Richmond.

Sue Kahn said it was disappointing that the council was considering the partnership and its location within the city of Nablus because of what she said was “a hub for several active militant groups.”

Council approved the proposal in a 5-1 vote, with council member Jamelia Brown absent.