From Cairo to Tokyo: Can you guess these twin cities?

What the report says

Hackney, a borough in east London, is consulting residents on whether to end its twinning agreement with Haifa, Israel’s third-largest city. The partnership dates to 1968, and the borough’s Green Party-led council voted in principle on July 28 to withdraw, saying the move reflected its values and human rights commitments amid Israel’s war on Gaza. A final decision is expected after the public consultation, which was open until October 14, and a review of Hackney’s wider twinning policy.

Al Jazeera’s article used the debate to explain what twin cities, or sister cities, are: formal cross-border links that can support school exchanges, cultural events and official visits, though many become inactive over time. The piece said modern city twinning developed after World War II as a way to rebuild trust and encourage peace, citing Coventry and Stalingrad, now Volgograd, as an early example from 1944.

The report also noted that such partnerships are sometimes ended for political reasons. It pointed to UK councils suspending ties with Russian cities after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine and Prague’s termination of its relationship with Beijing in 2019. In that context, Hackney’s proposal was presented as part of a broader pattern of cities reassessing symbolic international links.