Israel

Israel

MembersWhy Airbnb’s Jewish Settlement Ban Stinks of Antisemitism

Airbnb on November 19 sanctimonious informed its customers that “when we applied our decision-making framework, we concluded that we should remove listings in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank that are at the core of the dispute between Israelis and Palestinians.”

Airbnb
Photo: Photo: Hadas Parush/Flash90

If disputed, why not, as it did with Crimea, remove the West Bank entirely from the Airbnb listings instead of just boycotting the Jews who live there?

Hide it as they may try, Airbnb has entered the political fray, and positioned itself as a supporter of the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. Some have argued that Airbnb’s decision was influenced by the publication of a report by Human Rights Watch and the Israeli NGO Kerem Navot entitled “West Bank: Bed and Breakfast on Stolen Land.” To clarify, this report says nothing of “disputed” territory, but rather refers to a land stolen (by Jews from the Palestinians). If this report was truly the backdrop to Airbnb’s decision, then the company has clearly aligned itself with Israel’s most spiteful critics.

Sadly, but not surprisingly, the “stolen land” report relies on poisonous Israeli NGOs like +972 Magazine, Kerem Navot and Sikha Mekomit. Small as they are, these outfits enjoy generous European funding which they use to do inflict considerable damage on Israel’s reputation and image. Already in 2016,...

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Patrick Callahan

This is an example of author bio/description. Beard fashion axe trust fund, post-ironic listicle scenester. Uniquely mesh maintainable users rather than plug-and-play testing procedures.

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