Part of the series Struggle and Solidarity: Writing for the Liberation of Palestine
“It’s your chance to own a piece of the Holy Land!” a cheerful statement on a real estate website aimed at attracting buyers from the United States and Canada to purchase land in Israel and many Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Shout out the ad copy. This site describes five land sale events that took place in the United States and Canada this spring.
Another land sale event in Baltimore encouraged attendees to “buy a home in Israel now!” But as with any event, attendees won’t just be those interested in newly stolen land. You must be Jewish, but you can be any kind of Jew.
Greg Kaplan, a member of the local Jewish community, wanted to learn more about these restrictive events and attended an April 1 land sale event in Baltimore hosted by Jerusalem-based CapitIL Real Estate Agency. I tried to join, but told me:
I got a call from Shmuly Eyesenmann from CapitIL. He asked where I was, who the rabbi was there, and the rabbi’s number, but he couldn’t believe I just had the rabbi’s number saved on my phone. It didn’t seem like it was there. He said he would check on the rabbi and asked if the rabbi knew who I was. He said that probably not because I don’t go to shuls often. He asked if there was anyone in another castle who could vouch for me.
Mr. Kaplan was not allowed to attend the event, which was scheduled to be held at Shomrei Emuna in Baltimore. Shomrei Emunah is a “full-service shul and Jewish center” in Baltimore whose list of speakers and scholars includes a lieutenant colonel in the Defense Forces.
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Jillian Stoll, a member of IfNotNow’s New Jersey chapter, tried to register for the March 31 event in Teaneck, N.J., but received a series of phone calls. On the first phone call, Stoll admitted he was caught off guard by a number of questions, including the name of the temple and rabbi, his direct number and what the readings would be at the temple that week. She gave the name of an old rabbi and temple, but the caller seemed satisfied for the time being and said he had to cancel ahead of time “because of the protesters.” Later, she said, “I got a second call from another not-so-nice guy who said he had called the rabbi and he hadn’t heard me…and asked how old I was…and I was asked if I had ever been to Israel.” Stoll was also not allowed entry to the event.
Needless to say, I’m a secular Jew who hasn’t been to the temple since about 2007, and I’ve recently had a run-in with a rabbi over some anti-Zionist action where he was chanting with me. But I didn’t even receive a phone call. . And while these discriminatory acts may be necessary to avoid large numbers of anti-Zionist demonstrators, they are actually illegal.
A recent press release from the Palestine Liberation Assembly (PAL) Law Committee states that these land sales events are “a violation of the Fair Housing Act of 1968 and the Civil Rights Act of 1965 because registration, entry, and participation are denied.” It is illegal based on this.” Foundations of identity (i.e., race, ethnicity, national origin, religion). ”
The committee states that these events are prohibited not only by U.S. law, but also by the “display and offering of property in West Bank settlements that are recognized as illegal by the U.S. Department of State and international law,” including “Article 49 of the Geneva Convention.” It added that it also violates international law. …The settlement was found by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in 2004 to be a serious breach of international law and therefore a war crime, and he is currently under trial by the ICJ in connection with the case of South Africa v. be. Israel is accused of genocide and by the International Criminal Court. ”
The PAL Law Commission filed a notice and complaint with the Attorney General and the Real Estate Licensing Authority, and also served a formal cease-and-desist letter along with a letter of notice and demand regarding its findings.
When asked about the response from organizers and organisers, PAL spokesperson Hena Zuberi said:
The response we received was for the event to move online or for sponsors to withdraw from the event, at least publicly. Although this was not a direct communication with us, it came into effect immediately after our legal action and was a major legal and grassroots victory for this case and the campaign as a whole. This measure has resulted in canceling some events and moving others online.
One such event was scheduled to be held at Karl Bnei Avrohom Yaakov Simcha Hall in Flatbush, Brooklyn, but was later moved online following legal action and local protests. changed. Indeed, it is impossible to determine whether litigation, direct litigation, or a combination of both prompted the cancellation or relocation of the land sale event. Either way, it’s clear that the organizers and organizers are uncomfortable with the attention.
The site lists events in Flatbush and events in Montreal. Toronto; Teaneck, New Jersey; and a banner in Lawrence, New York, reads: “Our expert speakers bring real estate to Israel with a focus on Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Ramat Beit Shemesh, Modine, Givat Shmuel, Ra’anana, Neve Daniel, Efrat, and Mozza. We’re here to answer any questions you may have regarding your purchase.” , Haifa, Ma’ale Adumim, Ashkelon, Netanya. ”
When I sent this list of place names to Nora Burrows Friedman, deputy editor of the Electronic Intifada, who has covered Palestine for 20 years and has a deep understanding of the various borders and demarcations, she said: He explained.
Neve Daniel and Efrat are major settlements in the West Bank in the area between Bethlehem and Hebron. Efrat is a settlement that Palestinians call “The Snake” because it is a narrow but long settlement that snakes up a hill. Ma’aleadmim is one of the largest settlements in the West Bank, and Ashkelon is a city just north of Gaza.
Without more information about Modiin, it was impossible to say whether it was Modiin Illit, “part of the Ariel/Mare Adumim/E-1 settlement block.” But even if that is not clear, it is clear that many of the properties sold in at least five of these land sales events are located within the West Bank. But, as Burroughs Friedman pointed out, “It’s all occupied land, of course.”
Meanwhile, violence and displacement are rapidly increasing, with a February report from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs predicting that some 4,000 Palestinians will be displaced in the West Bank in 2023, with the majority in the 10 It is after the 7th of the month.
Tamara Nassar of the Electronic Intifada reported in late March that “Israeli forces and settlers have injured nearly 5,000 Palestinians in the West Bank since October 7, including more than 700 children.” Reported. On March 30, the New York Times’ Pakistani affiliate, the Express Tribune, reported that approximately 27,000 dekars (about 6,600 acres) of land in the West Bank had been confiscated by Israel since October 7.
This displacement and violence ranges from targeted destruction through airstrikes and “military operations,” to physical attacks by armed settlers, to what a friend of mine once called “paper genocide” for Palestinians without Israeli newspapers. It appears in a form. Building permits — Palestinians are essentially unable to obtain permits due to the apartheid regime’s discriminatory permitting policies. Zuberi points out that these land sales incidents, as well as violence against Palestinians, “have been happening for quite some time, long before the recent events in Gaza.”
Although the escalation in violence is clear, we must be careful to view October 7 and its aftermath as a continuation of this colonial violence, rather than the beginning. Similarly, the current critical attention paid to land sale events is due to the growth of the Palestinian movement and does not indicate that Israel has adopted new colonialist tactics.
In short, whether it was 1948, 1967, 2014, or today, Palestine is an occupied land, Israel supports apartheid, and these land sales cases , one of the many tactics being used to annihilate indigenous peoples and cultures, literally erasing them from the map. Figuratively speaking, it is the same as the large-scale land sale event of so-called “Indian lands” in the West here in the so-called United States.
Our protest was strong outside a land sale event held on stolen land known as Baltimore. The Palestinian flag was waving above my head, along with placards and handmade signs condemning genocide and demanding justice and liberation. Loudspeakers carried messages of “Freedom for Palestine” and “Occupation is a crime.”
A woman stopped in front of me and handed me a box of dates. I took her one with a smile and thanked her. She smiled back, adjusted her hijab, and continued weaving her way through the small crowd that had gathered across the street in Shomrei Emuna, where a land sale event was to be held.
Meanwhile, across the street in front of Shomrei Emunah, a crowd of Zionist counter-protesters waved Israeli flags, and several marched across the street to get in our faces, spitting and shouting insults. shouted threats.
Police presence increased during the night, but this did not deter violent Zionists from harassing our group of peaceful demonstrators, some of whom were praying. . Several drivers hurled insults and threats as they drove by, with some waving Israeli and American flags as they repeatedly approached. Several cars revved their engines and slammed on their brakes in front of us. It reminded me so vividly and grotesquely of the terrorists in Charlottesville, Virginia. A terrorist drove his car into a group of our anti-fascist protesters, killing Heather Heyer and injuring several others. .
As the night progressed, we heard news that the land sale event had been moved at the last minute to another location. A small victory, but a victory nonetheless. “These victories would not have been possible without the relentless pressure of the PAL legal team and the grassroots support and organizing of local PAL chapters and allies,” Zuberi told me. This grassroots organizing includes the Baltimore chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), the Maryland Office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), and any organization. It also included individuals like me, although I was not affiliated with it. One organization felt it needed to get involved.
Cassidy Cohen of the Jewish Voice for Peace Baltimore chapter added: “We come from a Jewish tradition that has stood for millennia against empire, colonization, and nationalism, that values every human life, and is rooted in social justice…” As Jews, we are Palestinians. We oppose all displacement and genocide. We tell everyone we won’t do it again. ”
In other words, it is the duty of everyone who believes in justice, and especially of us Jews, to act in solidarity with the tireless leadership of the Palestinian people in the struggle for liberation.
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