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ADEI AD (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) – On Tuesday, human rights activists asked Booking.com to follow the example of Airbnb and withdraw their rental ads from the settlements. Jews of the occupied West Bank, even though Israel described this decision as "disgusting" and threatening of a legal nature. action.
Airbnb announced Monday that it would delete these lists just before the publication of a report by Human Rights Watch criticizing the inclusion of settlements.
Israel has strongly denounced Airbnb's decision and threatened to take legal action against the company, while Palestinian officials welcomed it.
The US human rights group HRW released its report on Tuesday and asked Booking.com to follow Airbnb's "positive step".
"By ending rent brokering in illegal settlements on land forbidden to Palestinians, Airbnb has taken a stand against discrimination, as well as confiscation and theft of land," AFP Omar Shakir, director told AFP. HRW for Israel and the Palestinian Territories.
"This is an important and welcome step and we encourage other companies such as Booking.com to follow their example and stop appearing in the locations."
HRW has published the report on online booking companies, entitled "Guest Rooms on Stolen Land", with the Israeli NGO Kerem Navot.
Airbnb, based in the United States, has listed at least 139 properties in settlements in the West Bank between March and July.
Booking.com, based in the Netherlands, was 26 on 26 July.
A total of 17 is on land that Israel recognizes as belonging to Palestinians, according to HRW.
Booking.com had not immediately responded to a request for comment from AFP.
"Israelis and foreigners can rent properties in settlements, but Palestinian identity card holders are effectively banned," HRW said.
It is "the only example in the world of organizations in which Airbnb hosts have no choice but to discriminate guests based on their national or ethnic origin," he said.
– "Peace" & # 39; –
Israeli Tourism Minister Yariv Levin on Tuesday threatened to sue Airbnb in the United States and Israel for his decision, calling it "hypocritical and disgusting".
On the other hand, senior Palestinian official Saeb Erekat hailed Airbnb's decision as a "positive first step".
"Israeli settlements are not just an obstacle to peace, but defy the very definition of peace," he said in a statement.
Moria Shapira, an Israeli column who was offering an apartment for rent via Airbnb, said she was "shocked" by the company's decision.
Shapira lives in the outpost of the wild Adei Ad settlement in the West Bank. She said that she did not understand why neighboring Palestinian communities could post rentals on Airbnb, but she could not.
"Part of the surprise was that here next to us, in Ramallah and Rawabi, there are Airbnb apartments advertised and that's good," she told the company. AFP at his home located on top of a hill.
Israeli settlements are considered illegal under international law and the main obstacles to peace, as they are built on land that Palestinians consider part of their future state.
About 400,000 Israelis live in settlements in the West Bank, ranging from small hamlets to large cities. Another 200,000 live in settlements in occupied East Jerusalem.
Nati Rom, a resident of the wild cat colony Esh Kodesh and an organization's lawyer Lev Ha'am who is fighting against the boycott campaigns against Israel, protested against what he called "anti-Semitic pressures".
"It is with regret that Israeli organizations are harming us, and even more so, to see Airbnb yield to these pressures – anti-Semitic pressures that are hurting the Jewish sector," he said.
