Pod Save America Hosts Call on Democrats to Cut All Israel Military Aid, No Longer Accept AIPAC Funding
Jews, Israelis Targeted in Austria Amid Surge in Antisemitic Incidents; Local Jewish Community Calls for Action
‘All of Our Strength’: Over 1,000 Pro-Israel Activists Gather in DC for Solidarity Conference
‘Devastated’: Wesley LePatner, Killed in Manhattan Mass Shooting, Was a Jewish Communal, Philanthropic Leader
Sen. Angus King Vows to No Longer Vote for Israel Military Aid Until Gaza Conditions Improve
Europe Won’t Pressure Israel to ‘Commit Suicide’ Amid Gaza Backlash, Palestinian State Push, Says Israeli FM
Israel’s National Soccer Coach Attacked in Athens Before Soccer Fans Chant ‘F–K Israel, Free Palestine’ at Match
New York Judge Sentences Neo-Nazi to 5 Years for Livestreaming Bomb Threats Against Jewish Hospitals
US Pressures Lebanon to Issue Cabinet Decision to Disarm Hezbollah Before Talks Continue
UK Plans to Recognize Palestinian State in September Unless Israel Meets Conditions, Starmer Says
Airbnb’s Antisemitic Decision
Error: Contact form not found.
by Ronn Torossian
A woman talks on the phone at the Airbnb office headquarters in the SOMA district of San Francisco, California, Aug. 2, 2016. Photo: Reuters / Gabrielle Lurie.
Airbnb just announced a decision to remove listings on their site from Judea and Samaria (the West Bank), claiming that these territories are “at the core of the dispute between Israelis and Palestinians.” This move is antisemitic.
Airbnb’s decision to involve themselves in a dispute, and stand against the Jewish state, is unfair and disproportionate — and a call for a de facto boycott of Israel.
As legal professor Eugene Kontorovich noted, Airbnb won’t list places in “disputed territories” owned by Jews, but will list residences owned by Palestinians. He added, “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.”
The Israeli government — and people — seek peace, and long have. Prime Minister Netanyahu put it best: “The truth is that if Israel were to put down its arms, there would be no more Israel. If the Arabs were to put down their arms, there would be no more war.”
Israel is a proud democracy, and the leading democratic state in the Middle East. This Airbnb campaign is racist and wrong.
Ronn Torossian is a public relations executive.
