Faithwire
  • Watch
  • Go!
  • Podcasts
  • Newsletter
  • Contact Us
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • SCOTUS
  • Life
  • Religious Liberty
  • News
  • Politics
  • Faith
  • Opinion

Airbnb Picks Sides by Removing Listings from Israel’s West Bank Settlements

Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images
Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images
Share Tweet
By Tré Goins-Phillips
Editor

November 19, 2018

The popular hospitality service Airbnb picked sides Monday, when the company announced it would not allow listings in Judea and Samaria, both of which are nestled in a disputed swath of land known as the West Bank.

“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,” a statement on Airbnb’s website reads.

Some were quick to accuse executives at Airbnb of making a blatantly anti-Semitic decision:

.@airbnb says it won't list places in "disputed territories" when those residences are owned by Jews, and not otherwise. That's not a policy about disputed territories, but about Jews.

— Eugene Kontorovich (@EVKontorovich) November 19, 2018

How do we know @Airbnb's policy is pure antiSemitism?
1. Only delisting Jewish-owned properties.
2. Not delisting properties in Turkish-occupied Northern Cyprus. https://t.co/zMlF8U5IoW

— Caroline Glick (@CarolineGlick) November 19, 2018

Just deactivated my @Airbnb account. The answer to absurd boycotts of Israel is to boycott the boycotters. Many of the areas affected will be part of Israel in any peace deal. I’d rather pay more in a hotel than subsidize antisemitism or support Palestinian terror. #BoycottAirbnb

— Joel B. Pollak (@joelpollak) November 19, 2018

.@Airbnb you guys suck. This is a dumb, dumb move. https://t.co/V0IZbtBIW8

— David Reaboi (@davereaboi) November 19, 2018

Unreal. No @Airbnb for me. Read this ?? https://t.co/UkQMSF0KxL

— Dan Bongino (@dbongino) November 19, 2018

Law professor Eugene Kontorovich of George Mason University, whose tweets are referenced above, pointed out Airbnb plans to specifically target “Israeli settlements” — not Arab settlements — in the West Bank, revealing the new policy to be a clear exercise in discrimination.

Dr. Michael Oren, an American-born Israeli historian and Jewish politician, also highlighted the hypocrisy of the decision, noting Airbnb continues to allow listings in Turkish-occupied Cyprus, Moroccan-occupied Sahara, Chinese-occupied Tibet and Russian-occupied Crimea.

Airbnb blacklists Jewish apartments in Judea and Samaria – not Palestinian apartments, not apartments in Turkish occupied Cyprus, in Moroccan occupied Sahara, not in Tibet or the Crimea. Airbnb’s policy is the very definition of anti-Semitism. No one should use its services.

— Michael Oren (@DrMichaelOren) November 19, 2018

According to The Associated Press, Israeli Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan echoed Oren’s comments with a statement of his own, saying, “National conflicts exist all over the world. The senior management of Airbnb will have to explain why they specifically, and uniquely, chose to implement this political and discriminatory decision in the case of citizens of the state of Israel.”

Airbnb’s controversial decision did, however, enliven those who support the pro-Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, known as BDS, a global campaign promoting varying kinds of protests against Israel and it’s “occupation” of the West Bank.

Here’s Why Israel Used Lethal Force During Mass Protests in Gaza Today

Saeb Erekat, chief negotiator for the Palestine Liberation Organization, praised Airbnb, but said the hospitality business just didn’t go far enough.

“We reiterate our call upon the U.N. Human Rights Council to release the database of companies profiting from the Israeli colonial occupation,” he said, according to The Jerusalem Post. “Israeli settlements are not just an obstacle to peace, but defy the very definition of peace.”

The left-leaning Human Rights Watch took credit Monday for Airbnb’s decision to blacklist Jewish-owned properties situated in the disputed territory.

Latest

  • Entertainment

    ‘The Chosen’ Begins Filming Season 4, Series to Be Translated into 600 Languages: ‘We’re Back’

  • Faith

    Weatherman Reveals Why He Prayed to Jesus On-Air as Deadly Tornado Hit: ‘God Helps People’

  • News

    ‘I Am Beyond Grateful’: Liberty University Names New President in Wake of Jerry Falwell Scandal

  • Faith

    EXCLUSIVE: Famous Activist Prays For Mass ‘Exodus’ of Clinic Workers With Launch of Powerful Good Friday Campaign

  • News

    Actor Mark Wahlberg Reveals Why He Moved Family Out of Hollywood: ‘It’s Really Giving the Kids a Chance to Thrive’


Sponsored
Sponsored

Newsletter
Signup

Sidebar

Recent Posts

  • ‘The Chosen’ Begins Filming Season 4, Series to Be Translated into 600 Languages: ‘We’re Back’
  • Weatherman Reveals Why He Prayed to Jesus On-Air as Deadly Tornado Hit: ‘God Helps People’
  • ‘I Am Beyond Grateful’: Liberty University Names New President in Wake of Jerry Falwell Scandal
  • EXCLUSIVE: Famous Activist Prays For Mass ‘Exodus’ of Clinic Workers With Launch of Powerful Good Friday Campaign
  • Actor Mark Wahlberg Reveals Why He Moved Family Out of Hollywood: ‘It’s Really Giving the Kids a Chance to Thrive’

Archives

  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016

Categories

  • Christian Persecution
  • Coronavirus
  • culture
  • Culture
  • Entertainment
  • Faith
  • Faith
  • Family
  • George Floyd
  • Go!
  • Israel
  • Life
  • Life
  • Lifestyle
  • Media
  • Men
  • Mission Haiti
  • News
  • News
  • Opinion
  • P.O.V
  • Politics
  • Politics
  • Roe
  • Sponsored
  • Sports
  • Virtue
  • Women

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Navigation

  • Watch
  • Go!
  • Podcasts
  • Newsletter
  • Contact Us
  • Staff
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram

Subscribe to the Newsletter

Sign up to get our newsletter your inbox every day.

Newsletter Signup

Do you want to read
more articles like this?