Up for Sale: How the Marketing and Sale of Real Estate in the Occupied Palestinian Territories is Against International Law

“Riviera on the Middle East, Gaza-a-Lago, Beachfront Property.” [1] These are some of the characterizations of occupied Palestinian land that the Trump administration has made over the last year.  More than just being aspirational monikers for planned developments, these descriptions denote a trend in the real estate industry to capitalize on Israel’s illegal settlements by marketing and selling property within them.[2]  RE/MAX and other well-known real estate firms have spent years engaging in such practices in violation of international law.[3]  This essay will focus on how such practices in occupied territory run afoul of international law. 

Last year, multiple protests across the country erupted in response to companies promoting real estate in Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT).[4]  In Teaneck, New Jersey, the Great Israeli Real Estate Event, an annual exhibition that markets Israeli real estate to the global Jewish population, stopped in New Jersey with planned events in Montreal, Toronto, Lawrence, and Flatbush.[5]  One particular company, My Home in Israel, showcased units in the West Bank.[6]  Protesters denounced this real estate promotion of illegal OPT settlements.[7]  Echoing these sentiments, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) last year published an advisory opinion stating that Israel’s prolonged occupation and its settlement policies violate international law.[8]  Specifically, the Court stated that Israel has violated Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention (prohibiting deportation of civilians from occupied territory or transferring the occupying force’s civilian population into occupied territory), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.[9]  Further, the Israeli Supreme Court has recognized that there is a “belligerent occupation” in Palestine and that the Fourth Geneva Convention applies which the United States affirms in its own statements.[10]  While it is unlikely that the real estate companies themselves marketing properties will be prosecuted for war crimes, the United States should put an end to such practices as a party to these conventions and as the domicile for many of these companies.

The United States should use existing legal and regulatory power to ensure companies such as RE/MAX and My Home In Israel are following international law.  Considering the polarization of the issue and the fact that the Fourth Geneva Convention is not self-executing, it is unlikely that Congress will pass legislation to make its provisions enforceable in the United States.[11]  Therefore, the United States should look to existing federal law such as the Fair Housing Act to compel these companies to stop marketing OPT land.  The Fair Housing Act (FHA) prohibits the advertising, marketing, and sale of real estate that indicates a preference, limitation or discrimination because of race, color, religion, sex, disability, familial status, or national origin.[12] During the Great Israeli Real Estate Event, the organization held all of its marketing events in synagogues for the purpose of promoting and offering the properties for sale to the local Jewish population only.[13]  Such practices may be violations of the FHA, and the United States should enforce the law to compel companies to cease marketing land for only a subset of the population. 

Even if their practices fall short of the standard under the FHA, Amnesty International has noted in a 2019 report that the threat of legal action or government pressure has resulted in divestment by companies ranging from banks and pension funds, utility companies, engineering firms, and telecommunications companies.[14]  In particular, Airbnb had decided to divest in 2019, but reversed course the following year, but still claims that all profits since from West Bank host activity has gone to an international nonprofit.[15]  The latter example shows the seeming intractability of this issue, but the United States must enforce its own federal FHA laws or be in contravention of international human rights conventions it is a party to. 

In the alternative, the protests of the marketing events led to subsequent programs being canceled.[16]  The pushback was across lines, as Jewish residents also decried the events as inflammatory and divisive especially in light of the ongoing genocide in Gaza.[17]  If these companies insist on continuing these practices, they may open themselves up to legal challenges by US citizens.  Such challenges have occurred in the past.  In 2019, two Palestinian Americans intervened in a lawsuit filed by Israeli Americans against Airbnb for originally deciding to remove its listings from the OPT.[18]  This was the first instance of such a challenge to Israeli settlements.  Companies such as My Home In Israel may have to face such headwinds if they continue putting occupied Palestinian land up for sale, even if the government refuses to honor its commitments to international humanitarian law.

Shahrooz Abbas Nasir is a staff member of Fordham International Law Journal Volume XLVIII.

[1] James Mackenzie, Trump’s Gaza ’Riviera’ Echoes Kushner Waterfront Property Dreams, Reuters (Feb. 5, 2025), https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trumps-gaza-riviera-echoes-kushner-waterfront-property-dreams-2025-02-05/.

[2] Jonah Valdez, The Companies Making It Easy to Buy, The Intercept (July 9, 2024), https://theintercept.com/2024/07/09/west-bank-settlement-israel-real-estate/.

[3] Murtaza Hussain, Why Is RE/MAX Selling Properties in Illegal Israeli Settlements?, The Intercept (Feb. 11, 2016), https://theintercept.com/2016/02/11/why-is-remax-selling-properties-in-illegal-israeli-settlements.

[4] Gabor Rona, The Illegality of Israeli Settlement Real Estate Sales, The Lawfare Inst. (Aug. 29, 2024), https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/the-illegality-of-israeli-settlement-real-estate-sales.

[5] Id.

[6] Id.

[7] Id.

[8] Julien Berman, ICJ Issues Advisory Opinion on Israeli Settlement in Occupied Palestinian Territories, The Lawfare Inst. (July 19, 2024), https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/icj-issues-advisory-opinion-on-israeli-settlement-in-occupied-palestinian-territories.

[9] Id.

[10] Id.

[11] Stephen P. Mulligan, Cong. Rsch. Serv., RL32528, International Law and Agreements: Their Effect Upon U.S. Law 1 (2023).

[12] Advertising and Marketing, U.S. Dep’t of Hous. & Urb. Dev., https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/fair_housing_equal_opp/advertising_and_marketing (last visited Mar. 1, 2025).

[13] Rona, supra note 4.

[14] Doing Business in the Illegal Israeli Settlements? Think Twice., Amnesty Int’l (July 9, 2019), https://amnesty.ca/features/doing-business-in-the-illegal-israeli-settlements-think-twice/.

[15] Airbnb Inc: A US Company That Lists Rental Properties in Illegal Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian and Syrian Territories., AFSC (Aug. 9, 2022), https://investigate.afsc.org/company/airbnb#:~:text=A%20few%20months%20later%2C%20in%202019%2C%20after,decision%20and%20decided%20to%20keep%20these%20listings.

[16] Nevin Kallepalli, The Disastrous ‘Great Israeli Real Estate Event’, Curbed (Mar. 18, 2024), https://www.curbed.com/article/the-disastrous-great-israeli-real-estate-event.html.

[17] Id.

[18] Silber, Et Al. v. Airbnb, Ctr. for Const. Rts., https://ccrjustice.org/home/what-we-do/our-cases/silber-et-al-v-airbnb (last modified Feb. 3, 2023).

This is a student blog post and in no way represents the views of the Fordham International Law Journal.