Justice For All urges the DOJ to stop US sales of homes in illegal West Bank settlements

March 8, 2024

Justice for All urges DOJ, HUD, and District Attorneys to Investigate and Disallow Sales in NJ and NY of Illegal Settlements in the West Bank

Justice for All has made formal submissions to the Department of Justice (DOJ) and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) about the upcoming Israeli Real Estate Event exhibition in NJ and NY of properties in illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Additionally, legal analysis has been submitted to the U.S. Attorneys for the Districts of NJ, Eastern NY, and Northern NY, calling for immediate investigation and steps instituted to disallow the upcoming sales in Teaneck, NJ, Lawrence, NY, and Flatbush, NY. These offered properties are in clear violation of international law.

The United States recognizes that settlements in occupied Palestinian territories are illegal. The State Department has repeatedly condemned the expansion of Israeli settlements as counterproductive to peace negotiations. To further the stand of the US Administration, such sales must not be allowed within the United States.

The proposed sales would also be steered towards a certain segment and religious group within the United States, and while not explicitly stated, other communities would be in a disadvantaged position with regard to buying these properties, thus discriminating against them in violation of the Fair Housing Act.

The United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights further articulates companies’ responsibility to protect and respect human rights. Synagogues and real estate companies that are facilitating these sales must comply with these guiding principles as registered corporations in the United States.

These sales are a way to export the forced demographic changes in the West Bank to American Jewry. Justice for All urgently calls upon all Americans, as well as the international community, to condemn the continued expansion of illegal settlements in the West Bank to force out Palestinians, which is a war crime. The timing of the “Israel Real Estate Event”, as attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank are increasing and as the genocide in Gaza continues to unfold, is especially alarming.  Justice for All continues to call for a ceasefire in Gaza and an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestine.