'Auction of Stolen Palestinian Land' Left-wing U.K. Leaders Slam Israeli Real Estate Event, Alleging West Bank Home Sales
Saturday, June 13, 2026 at 11:54PM Organizers of the London event insist all properties on offer are within Israel's internationally recognized borders. It is unclear whether the event has decided not to market properties in the West Bank, or if it has merely removed any mention of settlements from its website
by Ben Kroll 11 June 2026 Haaretz
Leader of Britain's Green Party, Zack Polanski. Credit: Oli Scarff/AFP
Senior lawmakers and pro-Palestinian groups in the United Kingdom are urging government ministers and the mayor of London, who has joined the calls on Friday, to cancel an Israeli real estate event scheduled for Sunday, citing the inclusion of properties in West Bank settlements.
The expo, "The Great Israeli Real Estate Event," describes itself as a place to "come and meet consultants" regarding Jewish immigration to Israel. "Explore the best Anglo neighborhoods to find your dream home," the website offers. Among the cities currently listed on the website are Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Haifa.
Those calling to nix the event have alleged that properties in West Bank settlements would also be presented, though a spokesperson for the event has denied the claim, according to the London-based Jewish News outlet.
A glance at the event's current website seems to confirm what the spokesperson said. However, an archived version of the website from June 4 lists Gush Etzion, a bloc of Jewish settlements near the West Bank city of Bethlehem, as one of the areas users could select to receive more information about. All mentions of Gush Etzion, or any other settlement, have been scrapped from the website.
Event website, as archived on June 4.
It is unclear whether the event, which will be held at an undisclosed location, has decided not to market properties in the West Bank, or if it has just removed any mention of settlements from the website.
Zack Polanski, leader of the U.K. Green Party, sent a letter to Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper and London Mayor Sadiq Khan on Wednesday, calling on them to "take action" and arguing that there could be no justification for holding such an event, which he described as an effort to "auction stolen Palestinian land to the highest bidder," in Britain.
"It's obscene that the U.K. will be playing host to an event openly advertising the sale of land in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, especially while horrific settler violence against Palestinians is on the rise," he added.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan joined calls on Friday to ban a real estate sales event in the British capital featuring properties in Israel and listings in West Bank settlements, saying the settlements are "unjustifiable and illegal under international law" and condemning attempts to market such properties in London.
An event is planned to be hosted in London proudly promoting the sale of land on illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank. This is obscene. I've called on @MayorofLondon and @YvetteCooperMP to stop the event and for this govt to take real action on illegal settlements.
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Cooper said that the government is indeed "pursuing that particular event." She expanded: "The wider issue is that nobody in the U.K. should be advertising illegal settlements. Nobody should be pursuing illegal settlements. No businesses or organizations should be getting involved in them."
The event's spokesperson rejected the allegations.
"All exhibitors, without exception, will provide information about properties and projects within the Green Line," the spokesperson said, Jewish News reported. "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," the spokesperson added.
Protestors in New York last month. Credit: Etan Nechin
Similar events held in New York have also sparked controversy.
Last month, the same real estate event was held at a synagogue in New York City, testing a new city law restricting protests near religious sites. Days earlier, pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian demonstrators clashed outside a Manhattan synagogue where a similar event was being held.
Former leader of the Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, posted a video on social media accusing Israel of "selling Palestinian land."
"Let us all say no, it's utterly and totally illegal, unconscionable that an occupying power should go outside its own jurisdiction to sell land that's not theirs to yet make more Palestinian people homeless," Corbyn said.
Labour MP Richard Burgon also raised the issue, saying the government should ban the event given the U.K.'s recognition of the state of Palestine. Your Party MP Shockat Adam also enquired whether the government has any plans to nix the event.
Amnesty International condemned the event, which it says normalizes "illegal settlements by marketing them alongside properties in mainstream Israeli cities."
Calling on the U.K. government to nix the event entirely, Amnesty released a statement earlier this week saying: "This isn't a property fair. It's apartheid and annexation with a sales pitch."
The London-based Palestine Solidarity Campaign, which describes itself as the largest Palestinian human rights organization in the U.K., called on its hundreds of thousands of followers across social media to sign and to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmoud to "take all necessary steps to ensure that criminal charges are brought and to stop the sale of land that is illegally occupied under international law."
"This disgraceful event will involve the brazen sale of land stolen from Palestinians," the group wrote in a statement.
Police officers stand guard as counter-protesters display the Union Jack and Israeli flags during a march, held by Palestine Solidarity Campaign, to mark the 78th anniversary of the Nakba and against the "Unite the Kingdom" rally taking place in London organised by British anti-immigration activist, May. Credit: Chris J Ratcliffe/Reuters
Similarly, the Muslim Council of Britain – an umbrella organization representing over 500 mosques, schools and charities – also released a statement calling on Mahmood to cancel the real estate fair. "Such events do not simply trade in property; they normalize and entrench an enterprise founded on the dispossession of Palestinians," the group wrote in its letter to the secretary.
The event was brought up earlier this week during a session at the House of Commons by Liberal Democrat MP Calum Miller, who told the foreign secretary that Britain's "complicity in enabling the growth of illegal settlements runs deep."
"This is Palestinian land being advertised, bartered and sold on the streets of our capital. Will the Government intervene to ban the event unless assurances can be given that no properties in illegal settlements will be advertised?" he asked.
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