Zack Polanski: London Mayor Must Push to Cancel Sale of Stolen Palestinian Land

Green party leader Zack Polanski has called on London mayor Sadiq Khan to pressure the government to ban an “unlawful” Israeli real estate expo. 

The so-called Great Israeli Real Estate Event is due to go ahead in London on Sunday, and critics including Amnesty International have noted that it openly advertises the sale of land in illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

Speaking to London assembly members in City Hall on Friday, Khan condemned the event.

“Israeli settlements in the West Bank are unjustifiable and illegal under international law,” he said. “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… event taking place in our city, which I oppose.” 

He added that he had discussed the event with the Metropolitan police and the force would assess any allegations of criminality relating to sales at the event.  

Polanski said he welcomed the Mayor’s condemnation of the event but that he needed to go further. 

“The key question now is what comes out of his talks with the Metropolitan Police and the Home Office,” he said in a statement. 

“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,” he added. 

“The mayor should call on the Government to cancel this event outright. There is real fear that London is being used as a platform for an event associated with the confiscation of land and the destruction of homes. The cancellation of this event would demonstrate that London will not tolerate complicity in the dispossession and subjugation of the Palestinian people.”