London protest targets Israeli settlement property sales event
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators opposed a London real estate event promoting property in Israeli settlements, with police reporting 15 arrests.
By Lucas Ferreira · Science & Environment Writer
3 min read
Hundreds of pro-Palestinian demonstrators gathered in London on Sunday to protest a real estate event offering land and homes in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, Al Jazeera reported. The demonstration drew police, counter-protesters and criticism from British politicians who said the event should not have been allowed to proceed.
The gathering took place outside the “Great Israeli Real Estate Event,” which Al Jazeera said was organised by the My Home in Israel real estate agency. Protesters carried signs accusing organisers of selling Palestinian land and chanted against the event, according to Al Jazeera.
Jeanine Hourani, an organiser with the Palestinian Youth Movement, told Al Jazeera that Palestinians in London had come to reject the sale of land they regard as their homeland. Hourani said the activity being protested was illegal under international law.
Al Jazeera reported that the scene was tense, with dozens of Metropolitan Police officers present. A group of pro-Israel counter-demonstrators also gathered in support of the event, and some shouted that Palestine does not exist, according to Al Jazeera.
The Metropolitan Police said 15 people were arrested during the demonstrations. In a statement cited by Al Jazeera, the force said the arrests covered several alleged offences, including public order matters.
Political pressure before the event
The property event had already drawn objections from human rights activists and politicians in the United Kingdom before it took place, Al Jazeera reported. Nearly 100 British legislators, including members of Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour Party, signed a letter on Friday urging the government to meet its duties under international law and stop an event they said promoted unlawful activity.
Layla Moran, a British member of Parliament of Palestinian descent and one of the signatories, told Al Jazeera the sales were “unacceptable.” She said it reflected badly on Britain and on the international legal order that the event went ahead.
Moran also told Al Jazeera that the Metropolitan Police should have stopped the event. If existing law did not allow that, she said, Britain should act quickly to prevent such transactions from taking place in the country.
Jewish Anti-Zionist Action also criticised the event, according to Al Jazeera. The group said in a statement that holding it in a synagogue gave religious and cultural legitimacy to further colonisation of Palestine, calling that “unconscionable.”
Government response
Al Jazeera said the UK government did not immediately respond to its request for comment on Sunday. Earlier in the week, The Guardian reported a government spokesperson as saying Israeli settlements are illegal under international law and damage the chances of a two-state solution.
The same government statement, as reported by The Guardian and cited by Al Jazeera, said expansion in the West Bank is wrong. The spokesperson said ministers planned to issue updated guidance to give UK businesses clearer advice on avoiding ventures that support illegal settlements.
Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territory are illegal under international law, Al Jazeera reported. The International Court of Justice ruled in 2024 that Israel’s occupation was unlawful and should end, according to Al Jazeera.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.