Airbnb...is this article true???? Please assure me this is a misunderstanding...

Karin36
Level 6
Richmond, Canada

Airbnb...is this article true???? Please assure me this is a misunderstanding...

AirBNB Goes Anti-Semitic

 

On Monday, AirBNB, the home-rental company that is often used by tourists to rent apartments in locations around the globe, announced that it would not allow Jewish settlements to be listed in Judea and Samaria. AirBNB stated:

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.

This is the sheerest form of corporate anti-Semitism in recent memory. Not only did AirBNB specifically target “Israeli settlements,” according to Professor Eugene Kontorovich of George Mason Law, they’ve announced that they will only disallow listings in Israeli settlements when those listings are owned by Jews. In other words, if a Jew owns an apartment in East Jerusalem, that won’t be allowed for listing; if an Arab owns an apartment in the same neighborhood, it’s fine for listing.

This is absurd. As Dr. Michael Oren points out, AirBNB lists apartments in Turkish-occupied Cyprus, the Moroccan-occupied Sahara, Chinese-occupied Tibet and Russian-occupied Crimea. Not only that, but AirBNB allows listings in a wide variety of countries without any democratic rights and with wildly discriminatory policies.

Judea and Samaria are disputed territories, not “occupied” territories. Israel controls those territories thanks to repeated refusal by Arab states that repeatedly declared war on Israel to accept any peace deal. Radical Muslim anti-Semites and their left-wing apologists insist not only that these territories be turned over to the terrorist Palestinian Authority for control, but that Jews evacuate those territories entirely, making them Judenrein. Remember, this AirBNB policy isn’t targeting the Israeli government — it’s targeting Jews themselves for living in areas under international dispute.

Leaders of the BDS movement are explicitly anti-Semitic, calling openly for the end of Israel’s existence. The very notion of labeling Jewish products from particular areas for boycott is reminiscent of Nazi policy directed against Jews. As Alan Dershowitz writes:

The boycott against Israel and its Jewish supporters (to many Palestinians, all of Israel is one big "settlement"; just look at any map of Palestine) began before any "occupation" or "settlements" and picked up steam just as Israel offered to end the "occupation" and settlements as part of a two-state solution that the Palestinians rejected. BDS is not a protest against Israel's policies. It is a protest against Israel's very existence.

Still, the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement (BDS) is gaining serious steam on the mainstream Left these days thanks to the intersectional notion that Jews rank high on the hierarchy of privilege. Such thinking allows anti-Semitism to thrive across the world, and particularly in the Middle East. AirBNB’s latest move is simply the best evidence yet that the intersectional Leftist ideology has invaded the corporate world, and that anti-Semitism is perfectly acceptable among otherwise “woke” actors on the Left.

 

This article can be found on The Daily Wire...somehow I can't embed the link...

143 Replies 143
Eli114
Level 2
Toronto, Canada

Katrine deserves the honor for bringing it up, this decsion is a dispicable one and will reflect on less booking as many will see this company as biased! mangement should announce that they reflect only there biased attitude and not of those who list with them of book with them, I for one certainly is digusted with the mangement mixing in politics and taking a stand which is wrong to begin with, however, this is not the place to start arguing about it, it was wrong on the part of the mangement and we are waiting to hear a retraction of that policy!

Anne900
Level 2
Laborie, Saint Lucia

I am also greatly disappointed with this decision. AirBNB should have remain out of this political issue, this decision shows biasness and is discreminatory in nature.

As a protest for your political antisemitic decision to exclude Jewish homes in the West Bank in Israel from AirBnB (Which shows you don't understand the West Bank is a name of a geographic area ruled once by Jordan and home might belong to either side) I will limit my use in AirBnB, and stop using your platform.
As far as I know, Israel is the only conflict zone you took a political stand at. This is called hypocrisy, and it shows your company is influenced by inner political agendas, which a bad for any company.

 

For all the westeners who support it, the conflict is way too complicated for you to understand while sitting on your comfy couch back home. Your ignorance in the day to day lives being involved is outrageous. Soda Stream's factory moved from the West Bank: results: a lot of Palestinians lost their jobs which included making friendly connections with Jewish peers. Afterwards Soda Stream made a 3 billion $ exit.

Deborah562
Level 3
Manhattan Beach, CA

Because of Airbnb's recent announcement, sadly I will be leaving Airbnb and informing my guests through May that I am unable to host due to Airbnb's decision to remove Jewish listings in the West Bank. Except for the two immediate bookings scheduled, the others should have time to rebook - hopefully through a different home sharing website.  

I am looking for the appropriate channels to discuss this important issue with Airbnb, but am unable to find the correct contact. I am also looking into different hosting sights to join. I have enjoyed my experience with Airbnb tremendously, but cannot be a part of an organization that discriminates against Jews.

We will be doing the same and are looking at other vacation rental sites to list with.

I also am considering leaving Airbnb. It is my only source of income, but I believe strongly against the BDS movement. Shame on Airbnb for being anti-semetic! I stand for Israel.

Considering leaving too.
Under the banner of "inclusiveness" hosts are not permitted to decline bookings from anyone whose lifestyle, ethnicity or political stand is in conflict with theirs.

 

Yet they rampantly discriminate in this area themselves, while as others have pointed out, they do not take this particular political high ground in other situations which would seem far more "extreme" for want of a better word.

 

This goes beyond political grandstanding or PC madness, it is quite a nasty socio-political viewpoint, probably pushed through as policy by a  particular group of some kind.

- Disclaimer, no I am not jewish or anything like that, though some people look at my large nose and make suggestions.

An excellent description of why this decision is so wrong is given here:

 

https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/airbnbs-very-idiotic-decision/

 

"Jews were forcibly displaced from Judea and Samaria during the 1947/48 Israel-Arab war"

"Airbnb “experts” also do not seem to know about the ethnic cleansing of Jews from the Arab world, from which 850,000 Jews were expelled. Airbnb still services Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Egypt, and Jordan, for example."

"in all areas of Judea and Samaria that are controlled by the Palestinian Authority, not only are Jews not allowed to live, but they are not even allowed to visit."

I was deeply upset about the decision to exclude Jews from hosting in the Israeli-administered territories under dispute. This is a political decision - and a form of boycott.  Of course guests have the choice where to stay, and if they feel uncomfortable about staying in a Jewish community, they have every right to stay elsewhere. But to exclude Jews from hosting because of their geographical location - that's something else- and quite ugly.  Many of the Jewish communities where guests once had the option of visiting existed before 1948 - when the Arabs expelled or killed the Jews living there. They were rebuilt after Israel gained control over these territories in 1967. 
We look forward to peace with our Arab neighbors, and hope that the political future of these areas can be settled through negotiations that will lead to peace.  But joining an anti-Jewish boycott is unworthy of Airbnb. 
I have enjoyed using airbnb on my trips abroad in the past. I will no longer be able to do so, and that upsets me. 

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...

First, where and what are "Judea and Samaria"? They are not recognised by any nation and do not appear in any atlas or publication except a Bronze Age religious text. The claim and the text from which they originate, the Bible/ Torah are not cited in any of the international resolutions that lend Israel legitimacy. They are simply used by the Zionist movement to lay claim to another people's land under the guise of divine right from an imaginary god.

 

The support for the illegal settlements is not only immoral and continues the suffering of Palestinians, it also weakens Israel's legitimacy. Ultimately, people cannot accept a lie in place of truth. Justice and truth will out eventually, especially in this age in which it is difficult to cover truth.

 

Israel must withdraw from all Palestinian lands occupied in 1967 as called for in UN Resolution 242, and then no one can object to its actions. If anyone were to target Israel after it complied with all international law and consensus, then I would join you in condemning such action as anti-Semitic and defend Israel. As it stands now, there are legitimate reasons for targeting Israel, ahead of all other conflicts, as it is a moral and legal breach that has festered for over half a century.

They appear in historical maps and historical scriptures. You're afraid of Google or what? We'll do so after AirBnb boycott northern Irland, and England will retreat from any Irish land. 

or Crimea until the Russians retreat from Ukrainian land...

Maybe in the United States all the immigrants that came here should leave and give the land back to the Native Americans.?