PENDLE will not be twinning with the West Bank in Palestine after members of the borough’s twinning association decided it was not appropriate.

In December councillors voted to push forward plans to twin the borough with Beit Lid following a debate at a meeting.

Supporters of the move said it would show solidarity with the victims on both sides of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

But the twinning now looks unlikely to go ahead, after Pendle Twinning Association decided it was not feasible or appropriate.

Coun John David, who is involved with the twinning association along with his wife, said: “I wasn’t present at the meeting but the association decided they didn’t feel able to support it.

“They decided it was not really something we would able to handle generally and would be difficult to organise.”

An informal arrangement has existed between Beit Lid and Pendle for several years, with cultural exchanges taking place.

Coun Mohammed Iqbal, the Labour group leader, said that the move had been proposed in the wake of a successful ‘Pray for Gaza’ event in Nelson.

Around 350 people held a peaceful protest in the town’s Market Square last December after violence broke out between Israel and Palestine last month.

The twinning association also decided to decline an invitation to formally twin with the town of Dakhla in Morocco.

Representatives from Dakhla, including the mayor Sidi Sloh Eljoumani, met Pendle officials at an event in Creil, France, which is one of Pendle’s official twin towns.