Barcelona signs collaboration agreement with Palestinian city Ramallah in hope of peace

Barcelona and the Palestinian city of Ramallah signed a collaboration agreement on Wednesday, with the aim of working together in areas such as urban development, water management, economic promotion, and cultural, sports and educational activities and initiatives.

The agreement was signed at the City Hall of the Catalan capital by mayor Jaume Collboni and his Palestinian counterpart Issa Kassis.

Collboni said that history wanted the signing to take place after a ceasefire and the first steps towards a peace agreement were signed, and the mayor hopes that the collaboration deal will let the Catalan capital to contribute some part to the hope for peace.

The Socialist mayor, who is now barred from entering Israel by the country's government, said that he would love to visit the Palestinian city, which plans to name a street after Barcelona.

A "new stage of cooperation" between Barcelona and Ramallah was represented by an olive tree that Collboni handed to Kassis. "Some are dedicated to uprooting century-old olive trees from the lands of Palestine to expel the people who have worked the land for generations, to remove them from their land," he denounced.

In turn, the mayor of Ramallah said that it was an "honor" to be in Barcelona and received the olive tree with gratitude. Its deep roots, he said, symbolize "resistance" and its leaves peace.

He also made it clear that "justice" comes first, and then there can be peace.

Kassis thanked Collboni for his attempted visit to Palestine during the summer, a visit prevented by Israel, and said that the Barcelona mayor "made it clear to everybody that justice must prevail in Palestine and that we are visiting Gaza to break the siege and end the genocide."

The agreement signed between Barcelona and Ramallah is part of the District 11 program, announced by Collboni in the summer.

Horizon of a "just" peace

The politicians did not overlook the fact that the signing of the collaboration agreement took place shortly after the ceasefire in Gaza and a principle of a peace agreement.

Regarding this, Collboni has demanded that "all humanitarian aid" needed enter Gaza without delay.

The Socialist mayor also called for the reconstruction of infrastructure in the Gaza Strip. He has also said that peace "cannot mean impunity," and there must be a "just" peace.

For his part, Kassis has indicated that although the news is good, it is not enough. "It is very good that a ceasefire has been reached but it is totally insufficient," he said.

According to him, this does not mean the end of the problem between Israel and Palestine nor do they want it to hide "the terrible fact that there is still an occupation of the Palestinian territories."