The following was compiled to address questions raised by Olympia City Council members and some members of the community regarding the Olympia-Rafah Sister City Project and official recognition of the work of its volunteers by the Olympia City Council. These were prepared by volunteers and board members of the sister city project in April 2007. Read it right here

To: Members of the Olympia City Council
From: Adnan Abu Al Su’ud
ORSCP member in Rafah
and Assistant coordinator of projects
and programs of the Palestinian Association
for Development & Reconstruction

It’s really exciting to hear that we’re getting closer the Olympia city council official status. I can’t imagine that council members would vote against this. If they did so, God forbid, to us it would seem to be a vote against the great principles that the U.S. was established on: freedom and democracy. (more…)

The following is an examination of Sister Cities International (SCI) eligibility protocols and the US relationship with the Occupied Territories of Palestine vis a vis consideration of Rafah, Palestine as an official sister city to Olympia, Washington.  It was prepared for by Sister Cities International at the request of The Olympia-Rafah Sister City Project. A PDF of this document is available here.
Synopsis:

Sister Cities International recognizes Rafah, Gaza as eligible for official Sister City partnership with Olympia. SCI has no tier system or different types of affiliation status and SCI prefers that all cities use the designation “Sister City” for any partnership. Bethlehem, for example, is designated a “Sister City” by both Burlington Vermont and SCI.   This partnership provide both protocol precedence and examples of successful relationship with cities in the occupied Territories.

What is the basic requirement for sister city partnership with cities not in
recognized countries?

 From the SCI website: “ Sister Cities International will recognize sister city partnerships in countries where formal U.S. diplomatic relations have not been established, provided that the U.S. government has at least an “Interest Section” operating in that country and provided that no federal funds are used by Sister Cities International to support the partnership. The only country immediately affected by this policy change is Cuba. Sister Cities International will now officially recognize United States-Cuba sister city partnerships, upon receipt of a copy of the signed sister cities agreement.”

Does the US maintain an Interest Section for Palestine?

The U.S. State Department maintains an Interest Section for the the Occupied Territories in Jerusalem in the form of  the “Virtual Presence Post GAZA.”

Are any countries’ cities restricted from SCI membership?

No restricted cities are noted.

Palestine is not a country. Are its cities still eligible for membership in SCI?

Yes.

Though no ambiguity was noted  by ORSCP board member John Harvey, he phoned SCI looking for answers to the following questions:

1. Are SCI protocols regarding eligibility up to date?
2. Is Rafah eligible for membership in SCI ? (With relationships such as Burlington Vermont and Bethlehem setting precedence)
3. SCI has no tiered system of designations: all relationships are in essence  ‘Sister Cities’ no matter what they are called, correct?

Tsufi Daniel of SCI said ‘yes’ to all three questions, but said she would double-check and write a letter of answer. The letter is as follows:

Dear Mr. Harvey,

After we spoke yesterday I spoke to a few people and confirmed the accuracy of my answers to your questions.  As I said, Rafah is eligible for becoming a global member of Sister Cities International.  In addition, our guidelines for partnerships and partnership recognitions are not different for the Middle East, nor have they changed recently.  For more information on this, you can click on the following link:   http://www.sister-cities.org/PolicyDocuments/affiliationpolicies (to get to this link just click on the “About Us” section and select “Policy Documents.”

Once in that section you can click on the “Affiliations and Policies and Information” link, and then select “Affiliation Policies.”).  The last bullet point provides the most pertinent information regarding a potential partnership with Rafah.

Once the partnership is official between Olympia and Rafah (and once we are notified of this), we will send an official SCI letter recognizing the partnership.  I know that you wanted an official letter saying that we will recognize the partnership in the event that it is established, but we only do that once the partnership is official.  But there shouldn’t be any problems with this partner-ship, and it should be recognized by Sister Cities.

I hope that this was helpful.  If you have any more questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me again, and please keep us posted on the progress that you are making with Rafah!

Sincerely,

Tsufit Daniel
Membership Intern
Sister Cities International
1301 Pennsylvania Ave, NW, Suite 850
Washington, DC  20004
P: 202-347-8630, ext. 8639
F  202-393-6524
membership1@sister-cities.org
www.sister-cities.org

Is their a distinction between “Sister City” vs. “Friendship City”?

No.

SCI does not have categories of relationships.  It recognizes that some countries use different terminology for what amounts to the same thing as a sister city.   SCI regards them equally.   For continuity SCI prefers the term ‘sister city’ be used by all its members.  Therefore, there is no reason to refer to Rafah as anything other than a “Sister City”. See compete notes below.

What is the present political status of Palestine?

Palestine has a Permanent Observer Mission at the UN.
The U.S. state department sponsors a large array of programs designed to foster
communication, social assistance and economic opportunities for the Occupied Territories via the Middle East Partnership Initiative.

Further, US diplomatic overtures and efforts to improve relationships with the
Palestinians are ongoing Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice is meeting this week with Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas. Further, US diplomatic overtures and efforts to improve relationships with the Palestinians are ongoing Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice is meeting this week with Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas.

What is the SCI Islamic Peace and Friendship Initiative?

In this environment of fear and violence, Sister Cities International is in the unique position to play a vital role in bridging the gap between the Islamic world and the West through the “citizen diplomacy” movement. We engage communities in a broad range of programs and activities that involve these citizen diplomats around the world. But how do we approach the Islamic world, which has not been as actively involved as the West? The answer is that we must build an environment of trust, in which the free exchange of ideas and experiences is promoted. The Islamic Peace and Friendship Initiative seeks to do just this!

See Sister Cities International for more information.

 Notes from the SCI website:

Around the world various terms are sometimes used to describe a long-term partnership between two communities: sister cities (United States, Mexico, etc.), twin cities (Russia, United Kingdom), partner cities (Germany-partnerstadt), friendship cities (Japan and China), or twinning (France-jumelage) are common terms.

Sister city, county, municipality, oblast, prefecture, province, region, state, territory, town, and village relationships

A sister city relationship is a broad-based, officially approved, long-term partnership between two communities in different nations.

A sister city, county, municipality, oblast, prefecture, province, region, state, territory, town, or village relationship becomes official with a signing ceremony of the top-elected officials of the two jurisdictions, following approval by the local city councils (county commissions or state legislatures), as appropriate.

Sister city partnerships have the potential to carry out the widest possible diversity of activities of any international program, including every type of municipal, business, professional, educational and cultural exchange or project.

Sister city programs are also unique in that they inherently involve the three main sectors in a community:

• local government
• Businesses
• A wide variety of citizen volunteers (including civil society and nonprofit organizations)

Sister city vs. Friendship city

Although sister cities is the commonly used term in the United States, some U.S. cities have formed friendship city relations with cities abroad. Often, there is no difference in these terms. For example, a friendship city relationship might be more active than a sister city relationship. If there is a difference in meaning, it is that friendship city, in the U.S., tends to refer to a partnership that is more limited in scope. Sister Cities International encourages U.S. communities to use the term sister city, county or state, which is the most commonly used term in the United States. International communities may use whichever term that is compatible in their country, or use the same U.S. terms as stated previously. The most important thing is that these relationships should not be entered into casually there needs to be a commitment to fully develop city hall, community and business support for the partnership, keeping it active, with substantive programs, over the long-term.

Sister Cities International “International Partners” program

Sister Cities International’s “International Partners” program is an alternative to the traditional, long-term sister cities partnership. This type of affiliation allows sister city partners to undertake shorter-term (perhaps two- or three-year) projects to address issues like economic development, healthcare or municipal cooperation, with an international partner. During the project period, the two communities will be known as “International Partners for (substantive area).” These partnerships provide an opportunity for both sides to assess their compatibility and hopefully build the foundation for an official, long-term sister cities partnership.