Real estate expo in England features homes in illegal Israeli settlements

Saturday November 17, 2007 08:59

by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

At an exposition in London on Sunday, Anglo-Saxon real estate offered homes for sale in several Israeli settlements built illegally on Palestinian land, according to international law. The United Nations has condemned the settlements with several resolutions by the General Assembly, but those resolutions have not been enforced.

Archive Photo

The expo, entitled 'The Israel Property Exhibition', featured real estate property from various parts of Israel, including in the colonies that have been constructed in recent years on land seized from the Palestinians using military force.

An expose by the London-based Guardian newspaper revealed that the Anglo-Saxon real estate company listed “67 new build residential properties in Maale Adumim and six in Maccabim. That they are new properties is particularly significant because it indicates buyers would be contributing to expansion of the settlements.”

Gavin Gross, director of public affairs at the Zionist Federation, which organized the Brent fair, said: "While the promotion or sale of houses beyond Israel's green line is a contentious subject for some, it is not prohibited in Britain."

He said Anglo-Saxon was just one of a number of companies at the fair and other exhibitors were not selling properties in the West Bank.

In a similar housing expo held last month in North London, at Finchley synagogue, a number of properties in Israeli settlements were also offered for sale.

At that fair, participants received a brochure detailing properties they could purchase. The guide, called 'The Key to Israel', showed a map of Israel and the West Bank that did not include the internationally-recognized border between Israel and the West Bank, and substituted Hebrew names for the Arabic names of cities in the West Bank.

Companies represented at the Finchley fair included B Yair Building Corporation, which offered houses for sale in the settlements of Ma'ale Adumim, Har Homa and Beitar Illit; and Digital Investments and Holdings, which presented houses for sale in the settlement of Nof Zion.

All Israeli settlements are held to be illegal under international law.

Dan Judelson, from the group Jews for Justice for Palestinians, told the Guardian newspaper that such property fairs make it difficult for a peace process to begin. "Perhaps it should be illegal or formally discouraged for British citizens to take actions that might appear fine but that have immense implications for one of the biggest conflicts worldwide and that contribute to global instability."

Although the British government has taken no formal stand on the property fairs, the British foreign office told the Guardian newspaper, “The road map is clear that Israel should freeze all settlement activity. We will continue to raise this issue with the Israeli government.”