US: Israeli real estate event draws backlash over sale of West Bank settlement properties
An Israeli real estate event in Canada and the US is facing major backlash from community residents as well as pro-Palestinian activists over the advertisement of properties located in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, which are deemed illegal under international law.
The event, titled the "Great Israeli Real Estate Event", took place in Montreal on Tuesday evening, and there will be upcoming events in Toronto, New Jersey, and New York this month.
The event's website advertises properties located in several Israeli cities. It also lists the following Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank: Neve Daniel, Efrat, Ma’ale Adumim.
The Jewish Link, a Jewish newspaper from the American northeast region, reported that individuals can register for the events at the website for the company, My Home in Israel.
My Home in Israel lists properties for sale in several areas of the occupied West Bank, including in East Jerusalem.
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According to the company's website, the property for sale in occupied East Jerusalem will be available for sale at the exhibition in Teaneck, which will be located at the Congregation Keter Torah synagogue.
The upcoming event in Teaneck was met with outrage from the local community, including from Palestinian, Muslim, and Jewish residents.
Rich Siegel, a Jewish resident of Teaneck, raised concerns over the real estate event during a township meeting last week, noting the settlement properties and said that if the event were to continue, he would help lead protests against it.
“Teaneck’s Muslim and Jewish communities have both expressed concern with the sale taking place in their township," Dina Sayedahmed, communications manager for the Council on American-Islamic Relations' New Jersey chapter, said in a statement.
"We call on federal authorities to act immediately and launch an investigation into this planned event."
Middle East Eye reached out to My Home in Israel and the director of Congregation Keter Torah for comment on this story, but did not receive a comment by time of publication.
Israeli settlements in the West Bank are deemed illegal under international law, however, Israel differentiates between settlements and settler outposts, the latter of which it deems illegal under its own laws.
In addition to the event being held amid Israel's war in Gaza, in which Israeli forces have killed more than 30,000 Palestinians, the event takes place amid a period of rising Israeli settler violence against Palestinians.
Middle East Eye reported earlier this year that since October, Israeli settlers have attacked Palestinians in the West Bank on 200 occasions.
“We have been mobilising our communities en masse to protest against a foreign group’s alleged illegal looting and selling of Palestinian territory," Wassim Kanaan, chairperson of the New Jersey chapter of American Muslims for Palestine, said in a statement.
“We are watching Israel commit genocide in Gaza and pillage Palestinians homes in the West Bank and Jerusalem. These are both stark violations of international law."
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