London mayor slams event touting illegal Israeli settlement land sales

The mayor of London has condemned this weekend’s “Great Israeli Real Estate Event”, part of a roadshow promoting the sale of land and property in illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

Mayor Sadiq Khan expressed “concerns” about the event due to take place in the British capital on Sunday, during a Mayor’s Question Time session on Friday.

“Israeli settlements in the West Bank are unjustifiable and illegal under international law,” Khan said in response to a question about the event from the United Kingdom’s Green Party leader Zack Polanski.

“They are deeply tied to the ongoing displacement of Palestinians.

“I condemn any attempt to sell property in the settlements in the West Bank, be that in London or anywhere else in the world; I share concerns about the greater Israeli real estate event taking place in our city, which I oppose,” Khan added.

The event is organised by My Home in Israel, a real estate agency focused on attracting overseas clients to buy property in Israel.

Rights groups, including Amnesty, have slammed the event for openly advertising the sale of land in illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

Khan said he had discussed the event with London’s Metropolitan police and had been informed that any allegations of criminality relating to the potentially unlawful sale of property at the event would be assessed by the Met as part of an investigation.

“Given the significant escalation in speed and scale of annexation measures under Israel’s current government and the rise in state-backed settler violence, it is unthinkable that the UK government could allow an event to be held in the UK that openly promotes activities encouraging settlement expansion,” Kristyan Benedict, Amnesty International UK’s crisis response campaign manager, said in a statement.

“This isn’t a property fair. It’s apartheid and annexation with a sales pitch,” he said.

Israeli settlement expansion

Israeli settlers are Israeli citizens who live illegally on Palestinian land.

Israel started building illegal settlements after capturing the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip in the June 1967 Six-Day War, and now, more than 700,000 settlers – 10 percent of Israel’s population – live in 150 illegal settlements and 128 outposts spread across the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.

The government has openly funded and built settlements, and Israeli authorities give their settlers in the occupied West Bank about $5.6m a year to monitor, report and restrict Palestinian construction in Area C, which is administered solely by Israel and comprises more than 60 percent of the West Bank.

United Nations bodies and most countries view the West Bank settlements as illegal, citing international conventions.

But the United States has provided diplomatic cover to Israel for decades, with Washington consistently using its veto power at the UN to protect Israel from diplomatic censure.