Later tonight, the Park East Synagogue on the Upper East Side is scheduled to host an event promoting the sale of land in Israel, prompting an expected protest by organizations who say the event will involve the sale of stolen Palestinian land. The anticipated showdown between land-sale participants, protesters, and, almost certainly, counter-protesters, will be the first such event since the City Council passed controversial legislation restricting protest activities in close proximity to houses of worship.
That new law has not yet gone into effect, and in any case, the NYPD is on record stating that in its final, watered-down form, it won't make a meaningful change in how the department polices protests at events like this.
The event's website advertises an opportunity to "explore the best Anglo neighborhoods to find your dream home," but doesn't explicitly state that land is being sold. Instead, it invites registrants to indicate which areas they're interested in buying land in. Among the options listed is Gush Etzion, a cluster of settlements in an area of the West Bank illegally expropriated by Israel in 2014.
The office of Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who opposed the buffer zone legislation but declined to veto it, told Hell Gate the mayor opposes this evening's event. "Mayor Mamdani is deeply opposed to the real estate expo this evening that includes the promotion of the sale of land in settlements in the Occupied West Bank," mayoral spokesperson Sam Raskin told Hell Gate. "These settlements are illegal under international law and deeply tied to the ongoing displacement of Palestinians."
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