Refusing Israeli listings contradicts EVERYthing Airbnb boasts about diversity and inclusion

Gabriella256
Level 3
Charlotte, NC

Refusing Israeli listings contradicts EVERYthing Airbnb boasts about diversity and inclusion

I can't begin to imagine how this horrific policy was put in place. All it tells me is that all of those in upper management have not taken the time to learn anything beyond the propaganda they indulge in listening to. Proper and balanced research in order to form AN EDUCATED understanding of the facts on the ground before making such an outrageous policy would have been not just nice, but fair. What is your problem, people? Too hurried, too lazy, too already biased, too busy writing marketing copy about how diverse and inclusive you are to spend time researching something before making a terrible decision that the whole world sees? What is wrong with you on the board of directors and you in upper manangement that you would do such a thing without availing yourselves of the FACTS? 

27 Replies 27
Marnina0
Level 3
Haifa, Israel

This recent move by Airbnb is truely unfortunate, but luckily there are plenty of other sites out there that offer similar services. The company claims they don't support discrimmination and wants to foster diversity and yet here we are. It would be one thing if you wouldn't allow listings in any disputed territories, but you have targeted one small group of people and that shows your true colors. Not to mention, that in all likelihood the computers you are using to run your company probably contain chips developed in Israel by people who own homes in those very same disputed territories...

Exactly, Marnina! Airbnb should have removed listings from ALL disputed territories, or NONE at all. In my experience, racist propaganda (often from the BDS group) can influence moves like this, with the decision makers being "moved" by what they think are "facts" when they have been fed distortions and incomplete views of the situation. Airbnb decision makers should have done their due diligence in studying the siutation before taking such a step. I recommend gaining a balanced perspective by talking to Israelis who don't already share your bias, reading "Myths and Facts: A Guide to the Arab-Israeli Conflict", "The Media's War Against Israel", and "From Time Immemorial", visiting the ADL (Anti-Defamation League) website.

 

@Gabriella256, this move doesn't surprise me at all and the PC crowd has been moving in this direction for quite some time now.

 

It's all but a given among those 'in the know' on the left who run these companies that Israel should not even exist and that the Israeli people are brutes who are exploiting and terrorizing others - that is the PC/media perversion of reality, of course. 

 

The people who push this sort of thing and influence companies like Airbnb aren't interested in diversity, but continuing a narrative to support their causes.

Plenty of other platforms out there, assuming they don't follow suit. 

@John1080 Yes, it is not a surprise, but my aim is to give a different perspective, challenge the decision-makers and point to some better resources. This hasbara is what I do. 

Niraj2
Level 2
Liverpool, United Kingdom

Israel is committing genocide. This move by airbnb fills me with so much more love for the platform. I wish more corporations would stand by their moral compass the way airbnb has with the Open Homes programme and now this latest move. 

@Niraj2You have been brainwashed with lies and misinformation. Please have the courage to check the truth of the statements/claims you make. 

Niraj2
Level 2
Liverpool, United Kingdom

I think you might have that backwards. You can always switch to another hosting platform if you don't agree with it. I'm sure airbnb will survive without you. 

 

@Niraj0 It's not about switching to another company if I don't "agree" with it. It is about providing another viewpoint when something is unbalanced and contradicts the very statements they make about their company. I research everything I can get my hands on before even making a decision on where I stand, especially in controversial areas. I was actually once as ignorant and ill-informed as you are, and the only voices I listened to were those that I already agreed with. Thank goodness someone challenged me on that. I am challenging you to honestly assess how much real reading, visiting, researching, listening you do to sources that lie outside the ones you have been involved with thus far. Balance requires an open mind. An open mind is not afraid to look at and listen to "the other side". 

Niraj wrote 2 lines and you make a judgement on him. Saying he is ignorant and ill-informed is not fair because you don’t know what he has read or experienced, you couldn’t have. Where are your own references if reading and researching is so important? Even when Steve pointed out that AirBNB don’t read the discussion forums you got defensive, so really how open is your mind really?

Niraj is ignorant. Ignorance is being void of knowledge on the subject. It isn't a disparaging word.  I should tell you that in case you choose to play the victim.  Niraj's personal experience gives no validiation or justification for discriminating against Jews wherever they may live, regardless of his personal experiences, positive or negative. But its pretty clear Niraj is living in the U.K. not in Judea or Samaria, nor greater Israel.  I've lived on the ground in Israel. There are close to 20 voting members of the Israeli Knesset that are Palestinian Arabs. The Chief of Police of Jerusalem is an Arab. The vast majority of Arabs prosper in Israel and have no desire for further partition. You demand references and research but you provide absolutely none yourself, nor does Niraj, whom you seem so eager to defend. All he has is blanket and condemning catchwords and phrases. The same catchwords and phrases that Airbnb swallowed when they chose to violate their own diversity policy. Niraj has every right to express his opinion. He even has every right to be wrong, which he is. 

What are the reasons why Airbnb felt it necessary to make this change....does anyone know

 

Committing “genocide” is clearly one thing Israelis suck at, since the population of Palestinian Arabs you claim Israel is wiping out has grown from around 1 million in 1948 to around 5 million today. But when your cause is really just about promoting Arab and Muslim supremacist hatred of Jews, you’ll repeat any pathetic lie you come across, right? 

Genocide? Where are the bodies, NIraj? Besides your volatile words, what evidence do you have? How does Israel commit genocide right under the nose of the Arab Muslim neigbors that number in the tens of millions? I tell you what I see. I see Palestinian school children being taught to hate and kill Jews. You clearly love discrimination until it lands on your doorstep.