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Received today — 31 October 2026 ⏭

London tourism expo promotes Israeli agency linked to theft of Palestinian land

✇Aletho News
By: aletho
31 October 2026 at 00:52

(Photo credit: Israel Kasnett)
The Cradle | October 30, 2026

An international travel exhibition taking place in the UK next month will promote an Israeli government agency involved in the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians and the construction of illegal Jewish settlements in occupied East Jerusalem, Middle East Eye (MEE) reported on 29 October.

World Travel Market (WTM) London, one of the world’s largest international tourism trade exhibitions, is scheduled to take place between 3 and 5 November.

The exhibition brings together tourism officials, travel companies, airlines, hotels, and tour operators to promote destinations and negotiate business deals.

It will include a stand for the Israeli government’s tourist office promoting the Jerusalem Development Authority (JDA) and affiliated companies.

The JDA is involved in the construction and expansion of Jewish settlements on occupied Palestinian territory, including constructing so-called Biblical parks.

Israel’s construction of settlements in the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem is illegal under international law.

Biblical parks are tourist attractions or heritage sites designed around places, events, landscapes, and stories described in the Bible, particularly the Old and New Testaments.

They may include archaeological ruins, reconstructed ancient villages, religious monuments, gardens containing plants mentioned in the Bible, and exhibits illustrating biblical history.

Israel is building a "biblical theme park" to celebrate Jewish history by bulldozing a living Palestinian neighborhood – right next to Al-Aqsa. You can't make this up. pic.twitter.com/NrooNnJss9

— Ounka (@OunkaOnX) May 30, 2026

“Hundreds of Palestinians have been displaced or are at risk of being forced out of their homes to make space for these parks in violation of the Geneva Conventions,” stated the the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.

The JDA has also participated in the expansion of illegal settlements in East Jerusalem, such as Gilo.

It plans to build large settlement housing projects near the Palestinian neighborhoods of Beit Safafa and Sheikh Jarrah in East Jerusalem, which will displace dozens of Palestinian families.

Israel’s stand at WTM London will be shared with Africa Israel Hotels, which has also been involved in several settlement projects in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

iTravelJerusalem, which promotes tourism in Israeli-occupied East Jerusalem, will also be present, MEE noted.

WTM London is allowing the participation of the Israeli agency and travel firms despite the UK’s ban on goods produced in Jewish settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank last month.

British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband announced the ban, referring to Jewish settlers as terrorists who are carrying out ethnic cleansing against Palestinians.

The announcement came after the UK and other European countries condemned the Israeli government’s decision to move ahead with the E1 settlement project.

The E1 project is designed to bisect much of the occupied West Bank and prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state on contiguous Palestinian territory.

Israel dragged a Palestinian mother from her son’s grave while bulldozing an ancient Muslim cemetery to build a “biblical park.” Nothing says “holy land” like desecration in the name of tourism. pic.twitter.com/QD8haTXjuO

— Ounka (@OunkaOnX) October 24, 2025

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