British Property Buyers Warned Off Israeli Real Estate

  • 16 years ago
  • Uncategorized
The UK government has taken a positive stance by deciding to warn its citizens against purchasing real estate in Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories. The advice to be posted on the Foreign Office website has caused an Israeli MP to call the move Anti-Semitic.
 
The advice, to be posted on the Foreign Office (FCO) website warns that potential purchasers of property in a settlement should consider that a future peace agreement “could have consequences for that property”,
 
Israeli settlements are considered illegal under the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits an occupying power from moving its nationals into the occupied territory. Last month, an EU campaign was launched for clear labeling to distinguish between goods produced inside Israel, which are exempt from EU tariffs, and those made on Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, which are not.
 
The Palestinian ambassador to the UK, Manuel Hassassian, said: “This is a dramatic change of policy by Great Britain. They have gone a long way in being critical of Israel’s policies. In the past they have talked about settlement being an obstacle to peace and so on. But this is a milestone. They are now being proactive and very serious.”
 
Israeli MP Yuval Steinitz, advised Britain to abandon the campaign. “This is none of Britain’s business,” said Mr Steinitz, former chairman of the Knesset’s foreign affairs and defence committee. “When Israel is boycotted one should wonder if there is no implicit anti-Semitism. Let us see the British government boycott products from China because there is no democracy there before they turn to Israel.”

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