MPs demand government intervene to bar Israeli settlement‑linked agency from World Travel Market
Fifteen UK MPs have written to the government urging urgent action to stop an Israeli agency tied to illegal settlements from advertising at the World Travel Market in London.
Letter to the Foreign Secretary
Independent MP Adnan Hussain sent a letter on Monday to Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband, demanding “urgent action” to stop the World Travel Market (WTM) from featuring an Israeli agency involved in settlement construction.
The correspondence, seen by Middle East Eye, bears the signatures of fifteen MPs from across the political spectrum, including Labour MPs John McDonnell and Kim Johnson, former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, all five Green Party MPs (Carla Denyer, Ellie Chownes, Hannah Spencer, Sian Berry, Adrian Ramsay), independents Shockat Adam, Iqbal Mohamed, Ayoub Khan and SNP MP Chris Law.
What the letter demands
The MPs ask the government to “contact the organisers of WTM London and require the removal of exhibitors and promotional material where their participation would facilitate or promote illegal Israeli settlements.”
They also request confirmation of “what steps are being taken to ensure that the ban on the advertising of illegal settlements is enforced in practice, rather than being confined to statements made in Parliament.”
Israeli presence at WTM
WTM, scheduled for 3‑5 November in London, will host a stand run by the Israeli government’s tourist office. The stand is shared by several Israeli entities, notably “iTravelJerusalem,” which markets tourism in Israeli‑occupied East Jerusalem and is managed by the Jerusalem Development Authority (JDA).
The JDA is described as a statutory agency of the Israeli government and the Jerusalem municipality that “carries out development initiatives across Jerusalem and has been heavily involved in the construction and expansion of illegal Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian territory.”
Background on the JDA’s settlement activity
A 2025 report from the Office of the European Union Representative for the West Bank and Gaza Strip notes that the JDA planned “the eviction of the Umm Haroun compound – home to approximately 40 Palestinian families – and the construction of a 320‑unit settlement” in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood.
Earlier, in 2020, the JDA secured approval for a cable‑car project in Jerusalem that would require uprooting trees and relocating water, sewage and telecommunications infrastructure. The agency also intends to build a large settlement housing project adjacent to the Palestinian community of Beit Safafa in East Jerusalem.
Palestinian response
Palestinian ambassador to Britain Hussam Zomlot reacted to the MEE report, stating, “Next week Israeli companies guilty of ethnic cleansing will be platformed at [WTM London].” He added, “The UK government must now turn their words into action: enforce these commitments and ensure those complicit in illegal occupation and settlements face real consequences.”
Government stance
Last month, the British government declared Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory illegal and announced comprehensive sanctions on Israeli settlements. The MPs’ letter argues that allowing the JDA‑run stand at a major international event undermines that stance.
Call for an urgent reply
Hussain’s letter concludes, “We expect an urgent response.”
The issue now sits at the intersection of UK foreign policy, trade promotion and the enforcement of sanctions against settlement activity.
