Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, has said he opposes an upcoming real estate event promoting companies linked to illegal Israeli settlements, and has discussed it with the Metropolitan Police, the Foreign Office and the Home Office.
The mayor made the comments on Friday morning during Mayor’s Question Time in the London Assembly in response to a question on the topic by Zack Polanski, a member of the assembly and the leader of the Green Party of England and Wales.
The Great Israeli Real Estate Event is scheduled to be held in London this Sunday but its location is being kept secret.
Middle East Eye has also learned that the Met has been asked by legal groups to investigate whether the event should be blocked from going ahead under a Serious Crime Prevention Order.
Khan said in the London Assembly: “Israeli settlements in the West Bank are unjustifiable and illegal under international law. They are deeply tied to the ongoing displacement of Palestinians.
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“I condemn any attempt to sell property in the settlements in the West Bank, be that in London or anywhere else in the world.”
The mayor added: “I share concerns about the Great Israeli Real Estate Event taking place in our city, which I oppose, and that’s why I’ve discussed this directly with the Met Police.
“I’m informed that any allegations of criminality relating to the potentially unlawful sale of property at the event would be assessed by the Met with a view to investigation.”
In response, Green leader Polanski said: “Pleased to hear that you’ve spoken to the Met Police. Have you spoken to the foreign secretary?”
Khan replied: “My office has been in touch with both the Foreign Office and the Home Office, for reasons you’d appreciate I probably shouldn’t comment on any further.”
Afterwards, Polanski told MEE he welcomed Khan’s “strong condemnation of Sunday’s event and its breaches of international law.”
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But he added: “The key question now is what comes out of his talks with the Metropolitan Police and the Home Office.
“In practical terms, the Met Police should shut down the event on the grounds that it is unlawful. London risks becoming complicit in settlement expansion if people in our capital are profiting from the theft of Palestinian land.”
MEE has seen a letter sent on Friday to the Met by the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP), the European Legal Support Center and the Public Interest Law Centre requesting that the Met “assess whether there are reasonable grounds to investigate potential offences … arising from the organisation, promotion, facilitation, or hosting of the event.”
The letter asked the Met to “consider whether any financial flows associated with the event may constitute criminal property”.
“In the event that evidence indicates involvement in serious criminal conduct,” the letter asks the force to consider “whether preventative measures such as Serious Crime Prevention Orders may be appropriate.”
A Serious Crime Prevention Order is a civil order issued by a court to prevent or restrict involvement in a serious criminal offence.
Órlaith Roe, ICJP’s public affairs and communications officer, said: “This order sets out further evidence of the serious concerns surrounding the illegality of this event, concerns we have already raised with the Metropolitan Police.
“Palestinian land is not for sale, and occupation is not a real estate opportunity.”
Connections to illegal Israeli settlements
On Wednesday MEE reported details of the upcoming event’s connection to illegal Israeli settlements.
Emanuel Vatari, CEO of one of the sponsors of the event, the Emanuel Group, posted a list of companies participating on his Facebook page on Tuesday.
The list includes Harey Zahav, an Israeli real estate development company whose website advertises property in Negohot, an illegal Israeli settlement in the southern Hebron Hills in the occupied West Bank.
Also on the list is The Meshulam Levinstein Group, a collection of engineering, construction and real estate companies.
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It has built residential and commercial projects in illegal settlements in both the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem.
One was a housing project and a commercial centre it built in the settlement neighbourhood of Homat Shmuel in occupied East Jerusalem.
Another participant is the Tivuch Shelly real estate agency, which advertises properties in Ma’ale Adunim – a West Bank settlement.
Africa Israel Residences, another company participating in the event, is part of the Africa Israel Group, which has been involved in several projects in settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
The event’s website, at the time of writing, displayed a map of Israel that appeared to include the occupied Palestinian territories.
The website previously advertised Gush Etzion, a cluster of settlements south of Jerusalem, but from Tuesday, Gush Etzion had apparently been removed from the website.
Request for investigation
The letter on Friday to the Met said “the event appears to operate as a commercial platform facilitating the marketing and potential arrangement of property transactions involving real estate located both within Israel and in Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory.
“UK-based individuals and entities are understood to be involved in organising, promoting, facilitating, and hosting the event.”
The letter added that “there are credible grounds to consider whether the activities in question may engage offences … relating to the concealment, arrangement, or acquisition of criminal property”.
It requested “urgent steps to preserve relevant evidential material” including event registration data, promotional material, financial records and corporate records.
“It is not suggested that all individuals associated with the event are engaged in wrongdoing, but that the circumstances warrant urgent review and preservation of evidence given the imminence of the planned activity.”
On Wednesday MEE sent evidence of the event’s connections to companies involved in illegal settlements to the Foreign Office and asked for comment.
A Foreign Office spokesperson responded: “Israeli settlements are illegal under international law and are a fundamental threat to long-term peace and security for both Israelis and Palestinians.
The event in London comes after the government said it would ‘explicitly advise businesses against economic and financial activity in illegal settlements’
“On 9 June, we updated our Business Risk Guidance to make it clear and unambiguous: if you are a British citizen or business, you should not conduct any economic and financial activities in illegal Israeli settlements.
“We will look to continue to co-ordinate our approach with close allies and look at further concrete steps to counter settlement expansion and promote peace and security.”
The event in London comes after the government said on Tuesday that it would “explicitly advise businesses against economic and financial activity in illegal settlements”.
Organisers of the real estate event on Wednesday denied that it would feature land for sale in the occupied West Bank in comments to Jewish News, saying: “All exhibitors, without exception, will provide information about properties and projects within the Green Line.
“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 Great Israeli Real Estate Event took place in New York City last month, where The Intercept reported “at least one table advertising land sales in Kfar Eldad, Karnei Shomron, and other Israeli settlements in the occupied territories”.
Zohran Mamdani, the mayor of New York, said he was “deeply opposed to the real estate expo this evening that includes the promotion of the sale of land in settlements in the Occupied West Bank”.
Amnesty International UK urged the government earlier this week to take “immediate action to prevent the event from proceeding on UK soil”.
