MORE than 100 politicians have joined calls demanding the government halt the sale of illegal settlements in British synagogues, as campaigners warned against normalising colonisation in Palestine.

Jewish anti-zionists protested outside the Great Israeli Real Estate Event on Sunday at the Edgware United Synagogue opposing the sale of property in occupied Palestine, including land on illegal settlements in the West Bank.

They demanded the government step in to stop the event in north London, where they conducted a prayer service in the street and held a banner which read “war crimes out of our synagogues” until they were dispersed by the police.

Activists with Jewish Anti-Zionist Action (JAZA) stood alongside hundreds of other demonstrators including the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM) and the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PCS).

Their action follows a letter signed by MPs and Lords addressed to Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper which called for her to take “all necessary steps” to stop the event from going forward.

It also stated the event, which advertised the sale of land in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, was “firmly embedded in Israel’s project of colonial expansion by facilitating the sale of land that has been stolen from Palestinians.

“Allowing the event to proceed would not only be inconsistent with current UK government guidance on settlement-related economic activity, it would stand in opposition to the government’s obligations under international law.”

Co-chairs of the British-Palestine all-party parliamentary group, Labour MPs Andy McDonald and Debbie Abrahams, have signed the letter.

The event has also attracted concerns from London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan who said he had discussed it with the Met Police.

Amnesty International UK and the Muslim Association of Britain also called on the government to cancel it.

Jewish Anti-Zionist Action’s Talia Woodin said yesterday’s demonstration fit into a “long tradition of Jewish anti-zionists who refuse to stand idly by as stolen Palestinian land is occupied, sold and promoted.”

She said this included other protests against similar “settlement-linked” property fairs in New York and Toronto.

Ms Woodin added: “As Jews, we are disgusted that companies involved in marketing and developing properties in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank are hosted by a synagogue.

“These settlements are outposts of extreme violence and exist to terrorise Palestinians and eliminate the possibility of a future Palestinian state.

“We are here to fight the false narrative that dangerously conflates Judaism and zionism, and seeks to weaponise antisemitism to suppress peaceful protests.”

Palestine Youth Movement’s Jeanine Hourani explained that she and her comrades spent the last week trying to mobilise “every segment of British society” to try to get the event cancelled.

But despite the mounting pressure organisers have faced, the event has been allowed to go forward.

Ms Hourani told the Morning Star: “Over 100 parliamentarians, leading human rights organisations, the mayor of London, multiple legal organisations and over 100 grassroots organisations have condemned this event and called for its cancellation.

“And yet, it is still going ahead and that’s why we are protesting today.”

She added: “Over the last three years, Israel has attempted to make genocide the new normal and people of conscience around the world refused.

“Today, they are trying to make the selling of our homeland normal and so we must also refuse.”

Britain along with other Western countries announced last week that it would impose sanctions on six firms and one individual for enabling the recent upsurge in settler violence in the West Bank.

But the government stopped short of banning trade with illegal Israeli settlements despite calls to do so from more than 140 Labour MPs, including the chairs of every Labour-led select committee.

Organisers of the Great Israeli Real Estate Event have denied claims it will feature land for sale in the West Bank, calling the allegations “ridiculous” and “motivated by anti-Israeli and terrorist supporters.”

A spokesperson told the Jewish News that “all exhibitors, without exception, will provide information about properties and projects within the green line.”

This was despite their website mentioning a settlement considered illegal by British authorities named Gush Etzion. It was removed from their website after concerns were raised publicly.