A controversial real estate expo that advertises properties for sale in the occupied Palestinian territories is returning to New York City on Monday, less than a week after a previous event drew dueling protests on the Upper East Side. The âGreat Israeli Real Estate Eventâ will take place Monday evening at Young Israel of Midwood, an Orthodox synagogue in southern Brooklyn. Event organizers confirmed the location in an automated response to The Interceptâs request for comment, but they did not comment on the event itself. The roving expo is co-sponsored by several real estate companies with ties to Israel, and it is typically held at synagogues and other centers of Jewish life. At the event held last week at Park East Synagogue, The Intercept saw at least one table advertising land sales in Kfar Eldad, Karnei Shomron, and other Israeli settlements in the occupied territories â sales considered illegal under international law. The event presents a test for New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who has caught flak from the pro-Israel side for condemning the illegal land sales, and from pro-Palestine groups and free speech advocates for allowing the NYPD to maintain âbuffer zonesâ that keep protesters away from houses of worship. Compounding the mayorâs entanglement is the fact that Young Israel of Midwood, the synagogue where Mondayâs event will take place, is home to a city-funded senior center called Young Israel Senior Services. The senior center received more than $800,000 from the Department for the Aging in 2024, according to a city budget document. A spokesperson for Mamdani, who campaigned on his pro-Palestine bona fides, declined to comment on the latest real estate event, pointing instead to comments about last weekâs expo. âMayor 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,â spokesperson Sam Raskin told The Intercept last week. The mayor has also affirmed attendeesâ rights to go to and from synagogues without interference, in line with a controversial âbuffer zoneâ bill the New York City Council passed last month. The new law, sponsored by the councilâs moderate speaker, requires the New York Police Department to address physical obstructions and interference at houses of worship â which opponents see as a means to crack down on protests. Last weekâs event, held Tuesday at Park East Synagogue on the Upper East Side, prompted heated protests from Pal-Awda and other pro-Palestine activists, which in turn drew a counter-protest from pro-Israel groups including members of the extremist group Betar U.S. The NYPD kept the groups separate and kept protesters, members of the media, and members of the public alike away from the synagogue with a tight cordon of security barriers that impeded movement along numerous city blocks in the vicinity of the synagogue. After last weekâs event, Mamdani praised the NYPDâs handling of the crowd at an unrelated press conference on Wednesday. âWe in this city believe in the sacrosanct nature of the right to protest and also are committed to ensuring that any New Yorker can safely enter or exit from a house of worship and that access never be in question while we also protect the First Amendment, and I do believe that the police ensured that yesterday,â he said. âI think that critique of the policies of a government is very much separate from bigotry toward the people of a specific religious faith. And there is no tolerance for antisemitism.â The New York Civil Liberties Union, by contrast, offered a rebuke for the police force, calling the NYPDâs barricaded area a âno-speech zone.â âWhen politicians use Freedom of Religion as a pretext to impose severe restrictions on speech, they undermine all New Yorkersâ rights,â said Donna Lieberman, the NYCLUâs executive director, in a statement released Wednesday. âThe subject of last [weekâs] protests was not a religious service but a private, politically-charged real estate event held at a synagogue.â More protests are expected at Mondayâs event in Midwood, putting the NYPD and the mayor under scrutiny once again. Correction: May 11, 2026, 4:59 p.m. ET Due to an editing error, this story previously stated that Mamdani signed the City Councilâs new âbuffer zoneâ law. The bill passed with a veto-proof majority, and Mamdani allowed it to become law without his signature. The post Israeli Real Estate Expo Advertising West Bank Settlements Returns to NYC appeared first on The Intercept.
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