The UK government is under mounting pressure to ban an event that has advertised the sale of illegally occupied Palestinian land in the West Bank.
The private, invitation-only Great Israeli Real Estate Event is scheduled to be held in London on Sunday, following tour stops in the US and Canada.
Its event in New York last month drew criticism from the city’s mayor Zohran Mamdani over promoting illegal settlements.
Earlier this week, prospective attendees could tick a box next to Gush Etzion, an illegal Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank, to register their interest. However, as of Wednesday afternoon, Gush Etzion had been removed from the event website . Photos from previous editions of a similar event in London reveal that homes in Gush Etzion and Ma’ale Adumim – another illegal Israeli settlement – were being advertised. A spokesperson for the event has denied that they are featuring West Bank land, telling Jewish News on Tuesday that all exhibitors “without exception” will provide information about properties and projects within the Green Line.
The Green Line is the internationally recognised boundary separating Israel from Palestinian territories in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip. The spokesperson added: “We believe that these ridiculous allegations are motivated by anti-Israeli and terrorist supporters, seeking only excuses to attack Jews in general and the State of Israel in particular.”
‘Bartered and sold’
In parliament earlier on Tuesday, MPs called on British foreign secretary Yvette Cooper to ban the event, after she had just announced sanctions on firms and individuals enabling Israeli settler violence.
Liberal Democrat MP Calum Miller noted the Gush Etzion properties were being marketed. “This is Palestinian land being advertised, bartered and sold on the streets of our capital,” he said.
“Will the government intervene to ban the event unless assurances can be given that no properties in illegal settlements will be advertised?” Labour MP Richard Burgon said: “Given that the government rightly recognised the state of Palestine, surely we should now move to ban this event which is selling off land illegally in Palestine.”
Cooper said: “We are pursuing that particular event. If we find any cases where there are breaches of UK law, we will also pursue them.”
“The wider issue is that nobody in the UK should be advertising illegal settlements. Nobody should be pursuing illegal settlements. No businesses or organisations should be getting involved in them.”
But organisations are also calling on Cooper and home secretary Shabana Mahmood to go further and ban the event.
In a letter to Mahmood , the Palestine Solidarity Campaign said it was “unthinkable” that the event could go ahead and called on the government to ensure that the Metropolitan police investigate.
“We urge you to take all necessary steps to ensure that criminal charges are brought against those who are enabling the sale of stolen Palestinian land and to prevent the event from going ahead,” the group said.
The Palestinian Youth Movement, which has been leading a campaign to stop the event and released a statement on Wednesday calling for its cancellation signed by over 100 organisations, said: “Our demand has been clear from the start: this event must be cancelled and Britain must right its historical wrongs”
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