PAL-Awda's Stolen Land Campaign
Since March 2024, PAL-Awda NY/NJ has been protesting and taking legal action against widespread illegal real estate sales of stolen Palestinian land. These sales reflect the genocidal settler colony's desperation, in the face of intensifying international isolation and legal sanction.Admission to these real estate sales is limited by ethnicity, and only to those who can pass Zionist screening questions, in violation of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1965, Fair Housing Act of 1968, state and international law.While elected officials continue to fail their responsibility to shut down these illegal sales events, PAL-Awda has been mobilizing in the streets, in the five boroughs, Long Island, New Jersey and beyond, serving legal papers, and causing many to be canceled or moved.You can get involved! Join us. Contact us via [email protected] to get involved
REGARDING VIOLENT ATTACKS ON OUR COMMUNITY AT FEB. 18 PROTEST OF STOLEN PALESTINIAN LAND REAL ESTATE SALES IN BOROUGH PARKOn Tuesday, February 18, hundreds of pro-Palestine protestors responded to PAL-Awda’s call to protest an illegal real estate event selling stolen land in occupied Palestine. The event was hosted by The Getter Group, an israeli real estate company, in Boro Park, Brooklyn.
These sales violate state, federal, and international fair housing and civil rights laws. As we do with every one of these sales, we made numerous attempts to contact the attorney general and other elected officials—yet our efforts were ignored.
What’s worse is that rather than prosecuting or investigating the organizers and hosts of these racist, illegal events, our elected officials launched completely acontextual attacks against us on social media, and mobilized the fascist NYPD to kettle us tonight and suppress our right to protest. If these same politicians would enforce laws against ethnically restricted real estate sales events, as is their obligation, we would not need to take to the streets to do their job for them.
Despite the heavy police presence and repression, we sent a loud and clear message: Palestine is not for sale.
Protest attendees were spat on, kicked, harassed, maced, and even physically struck and punched by Zionists as they made their way to the protest and as they tried to go home. Protestors were followed by foot and car by Zionist mobs including the shomrim. They were threatened and chased for hours. From inside the event, Zionists threw jugs of water from over 15 ft high onto the protestors below. Zionists engaged in blatant Islamophobia in an effort to incite violence.
One counterprotestor held a lighter to a Quran, another made sexual gestures with a Quran, and others mocked our call to prayer. Zionists also attempted to infiltrate the crowd during the protest and attack protestors multiple times but failed.
At our protest, we were honored by the steadfast presence of rabbis from Neturei Karta, who oppose Zionism and who always stand with us against the sale of stolen Palestinian land. Borough Park is their home, and they were offended that the crowd of Zionists who came to taunt and threaten us were from outside their Jewish neighborhood.
At the conclusion of our protest, we marched and dispersed several blocks away from the location of the sale. One group of protestors left together, escorting several Jewish allies to their car. They were approached by a Zionist with a metal stick and several others followed, encircling and threatening them, and ultimately assaulting the group. Two young men were taken to the hospital as a result of the attacks.
Our group needed to surround and protect one of the Neturei Karta elder rabbis, in a wheelchair, as the Zionist mob tried to attack him. This type of violence highlights the hypocrisy of the false attacks that slander our protest as antisemitic.
Shortly after, as several protest attendees were driving home, tens of Zionists followed them. Multiple Zionists first tried to rip the Palestinian flag from a passengers hands as the car was traveling. They then began attacking the driver of the car and eventually up to a hundred assembled into a mob, chasing the car on a narrow, one-way street.
As they assembled into an even bigger group, they surrounded the vehicle. They tried to pull the driver out while the car was moving, opened doors, banged on the roof, trunk, and windows from all sides, and threw objects into the vehicle. The driver tried to get away and to safety, but was surrounded by Zionists attacking the vehicle from all sides, who only retreated when the NYPD appeared. Zionists then of course manufactured outrageous accusations, painting themselves as the victims rather than the aggressors.
Since the call to protest was first made days ago, Zionists have waged false accusations against us. First, they called it an antisemitic attack on a Jewish neighborhood, completely omitting the fact that we were protesting an event, not a neighborhood. Then, they made several blatantly untrue reports about the protest, claiming that a person was stabbed and that a protester attempted to run over counter-protesters.
But Betar US, who organized the counterprotest, openly encouraged acts of violence against us on their social media accounts in the days and hours leading up to the protest. They urged counter protestors to bring pitbulls, burn Palestinian flags, and to come ready to fight. They warned on social media of the potential that a Quran would be burned.
One of the Zionists at the protest bragged of having “just bought a house in Jenin”—a Palestinian city on the West Bank that is being attacked and ethnically cleansed. The violence-inciting Zionists raised the flag of “Kahane Chai,” which has been previously listed as a US-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO).
Our community has experienced the depravity and violence of Zionist groups on many occasions, but we know that this violence is nothing compared to what Palestinians in the West Bank endure at the hands of settlers and the IOF. Resisting land theft perpetrated in the US is our duty and honor. It is the bare minimum demanded of us.
We call for an end to the spread of misinformation and for an end to these repeated illegal land sale events. We call on everyone who opposes ethnic cleansing to join us in the streets whenever Zionists try to hold another stolen land sale, no matter where it may be. Our strength is in numbers.
Submit Stolen Land Protest Footage
PAL-Awda's Stolen Land campaign targets Zionist real estate events illegally selling stolen land in occupied Palestine. These sales violate state, federal and international laws and we take various avenues to try and shut these events down but when we cant, we protest these events. We've often had to defend ourselves at these protests, as the zionist counter protestors become extremely aggressive and violent. If you have footage from any of our stolen land protests showcasing zionist violence, police brutality or anything else that should be documented, please fill out this form. Thank you!
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
1. What do we mean by "Stolen Land"?
In the context of this campaign, when we say "stolen land," we are referring to the illegal sale of Palestinian land by zionist real estate companies across the U.S. and Canada. Settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem have been rapidly expanding since they began in 1967. However, in July of 2024, the zionist entity approved the largest seizure of land in the occupied West Bank since the disastrous 1993 Oslo Accords. As part of those efforts, zionist real estate companies such as My Home in Israel and My Israel Home are selling Palestinian land all over the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, some still inhabited by Palestinians, to zionist Jews across North America.2. Why are Zionists selling stolen Palestinian land?
Zionists are selling this land to perpetuate settler-colonialism in Palestine. In the past year, about 4,555 Palestinians have been displaced in the West Bank after the IOF demolished their homes. The IOF demolished, seized or sealed at least 1,768 structures, including 390 in Tulkarem, 368 in Jerusalem and 242 in Jenin.The zionist strategy is to get a population of ultra-right Jewish Supremacists to move to Palestine and occupy the land. Their openly stated goal is to make all of Palestine an exclusively Jewish state, from the river to the sea. PAL-Awda sees this recent uptick in settlement expansion as one iteration of the settler-colonial projectʼs ultimate goal: erasure of the natives. While israel is overtly committing genocide in the Gaza Strip through massacres and the complete destruction of Gazan institutions, it is committing genocide in the rest of occupied Palestine through land theft, home demolitions, the destruction of farmland, wells, and indigenous trees.3. Can anyone attend these stolen land sales?
No. These are closed events, typically held in synagogues, marketed to super conservative orthodox Jewish communities. The time and place of the event are only sent to approved registrants who undergo an extensive and discriminatory vetting process. In order to register, prospective attendees are generally required to provide information to prove their membership in a zionist Jewish orthodox community. For example, prospective attendees are asked to share their local synagogue and rabbi. Some are asked to state which settlement in occupied Palestine they want to purchase property in and why. Others are asked to call the event organizers from a WhatsApp phone number and to provide state-issued photo ID. Even after approval for registration, single women attendees are asked where their husbands are. One young man was grilled repeatedly by armed representatives of the sponsor.4. Why do orthodox Jews want to buy land there?
Orthodox Jews buying land in Palestine are motivated by a commitment to the zionist ideology of an exclusively Jewish state. They are offered packages which include discounted mortgages from israeli banks with offices in the U.S., logistical support, and religious community. Jewish settlers living or investing in the settlements are entitled to significant financial benefits which are provided to them by six government ministries. They are provided with grants and tax breaks for participating in the colonization.5. Why is this campaign important?
As people living in the belly of the beast, we have both an immense responsibility and immense power to interfere with the zionist project. This campaign is one concrete way we can do that. We fight these stolen land sales both in the hopes of preventing the theft of more Palestinian land by deterring hosts and prospective attendees and exposing the true nature of zionism as an ideology of racist Jewish supremacy.6. Are these sale events legal? What laws do they violate?
The PAL Commission on War Crimes, Justice, Reparations and Return has identified over 22 international, federal, and state laws which these sales are violating, including: International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion of 2004; Order on Provisional Measure of January 2023; The Geneva Conventions; Executive Order on Imposing Certain Sanctions on Persons Undermining Peace, Security, and Stability in The West Bank by President Biden on 2/1/24; Federal Non-Profit Laws and their State equivalents: Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. 3604(a)- direct violation for aiding and abetting by hosting and showcasing said illegal sales; 42 U.S.C. Section 1983 (Civil Action for Deprivation of Civil Rights); New Yorkʼs Human Rights Law (N.Y. Executive Law 296 5(a) New York Real Estate License Law 19 CRR-NY 175.17(a); New York Real Property Law NY RPP Chapter 50, Article 12 41-c(a)(1).7. From a legal perspective, how can we challenge these sales?
We have challenged these sales through a variety of tactics which include: serving complaint
letters to government agencies, such as the NY and NJ state civil rights and real estate commissions, identifying all the laws the sales are in violation of; serving cease and desist demand letters to the sponsors and hosts of prospective land sale events, notifying them of the legal jeopardy they are in if they proceed with the event. The NJ State Civil Rights Commissionʼs Real Estate Division opened an inquiry into My Home in Israelʼs sales events in NJ based on our complaint filed with them last March.
Watch Our Recent Stolen Land Teach-In
On January 23, 2025 PAL-Awda NY/NJ hosted a teach-in about our Stolen Land campaign, where we covered the web of zionist real estate, banks, and settler forces selling stolen Palestinian land, and our campaign to challenge and expose it.
We also discussed:
– The genocidal planned pattern of settler expansion and demolition of Palestinian homes in West Bank and Gaza
– What actually happens at these settler colonial zionist sponsored stolen land sales
– PAL-Awda’s dual pronged strategy to expose and stop these sales through legal challenges and confrontation in the streets, including future pre-emptive strategies
– How you can get involved in PAL-Awda’s Stolen Land Campaign
Photos from Stolen Land Protests
Press Coverage
Contact Information
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