Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank are illegal under international law [Getty]
A coalition of groups is set to protest the ‘Great Israeli Real Estate Event’ on Sunday in northwest London’s Edgware, calling it a form of apartheid, following mass condemnation of the event’s links to illegal settlements.
The real estate event is one of a series of international conferences of its kind, marketing property in the occupied West Bank, and has been described as “apartheid and annexation with a sales pitch” by Amnesty International UK.
The event is reportedly being held at the Edgware United Synagogue at midday, and calls on attendees to find their “dream home” and register interest in the Gush Etzion Israeli settlement, which the UK government considers to be illegal.
Jeanine Hourani from the Palestinian Youth Movement, one of the groups participating in the protest, told The New Arab that the protest is taking place because the event has not been cancelled, despite widespread calls to do so within the UK.
This includes demands for cancellation from over 100 MPs, who said in a letter to Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper that allowing the event to go ahead would be inconsistent with government policy and run counter to the country’s international legal obligations.
“Over the last three years, Israel has attempted to make genocide the new normal and people of conscience around the world refused,” Hourani said.
“Today, they are trying to make the selling of our homeland normal, and so we must also refuse,” she added.
The New Arab reached out to Edgware United Synagogue for comment, but did not receive a response by the time of publication.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan, alongside human rights groups, also condemned the event. During Mayor’s Question Time on Friday, he decried Israeli settlements as “unjustifiable and illegal under international law”.
The International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network will also protest the event, set to be held at the crossroads of Broadhurst Avenue and Edgware Way.
Earlier this week, the CEO of one of the event’s main sponsors, the Emanuel Group, revealed a list of the companies participating in the event in a post on Facebook. The list includes several real estate companies involved in illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.
This includes Harey Zahav, which advertises property in the settlement of Negohot, the Meshulam Levinstein Group, which has built residential and commercial projects in the West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem, and Tivuch Shelly real estate agency, which advertises property in the settlement of Ma’ale Adunim.
The synagogue has been issued a legal notice by the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP), which said on X: “Our letter warns the venue of several legal and reputational risks and calls on them to cancel the event immediately.”
The ICJP warned that though the synagogue may not be involved in the event’s organisation, “hosting the event would inevitably facilitate its operation and confer legitimacy upon it.”
The ICJP also said that there are both legal and commercial risks if businesses engage in activity related to illegal settlements, based on UK government guidance.
Israeli settlements are illegal under international law, as is Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, according to the International Court of Justice.
The UK, Australia, Canada, France and Norway issued sanctions against “networks” financing and facilitating violent settler attacks against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank on 9 June, though many rights groups say the sanctions don’t go far enough.
