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JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Lawyers on Thursday filed a lawsuit in Israel against Airbnb, accusing the company of "scandalous discrimination" and demanding damages for removing lists of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.
FILE PHOTO: The Airbnb logos are displayed at an Airbnb event in Tokyo, Japan on June 14, 2018. REUTERS / Issei Kato
The San Francisco-based company said this week that it was removing the listings of about 200 homes in settlements after hearing criticism from people who "think corporations should not take advantage of the lands on which people have been displaced. "
Maanit Rabinovich of Kida settlement in the West Bank, who offers bed and breakfast rentals, said through his lawyers that the move "represents a particularly serious, offensive and outrageous discrimination".
Rabinovich claimed 15,000 shekels ($ 2,573) in personal damages. The class action seeks to obtain an undetermined sum on behalf of other persons in the same situation, according to court documents submitted to the Jerusalem District Court.
"The decision of the society applies in reality only to the Israeli citizens living in the colonies, according to the petitioner, and it is a serious discrimination, particularly scandalous," said a Rabinovich lawyer in a statement.
"This is part of the long war waged by organizations (a clear majority of which are anti-Semitic) against the state of Israel as a whole and against Israelis living in settlements, among others."
Palestinians wishing to establish an independent state settling in the West Bank have welcomed Airbnb's decision. Most world powers see Israel building settlements on occupied Palestinian land as a violation of international law, and Palestinians say it is unfair for businesses to take advantage of it.
"Airbnb has made the decision in the right direction to end transactions with Israeli settlements, in accordance with international legitimacy," said Wasel Abu Youssef, senior official of the Palestine Liberation Palestine Liberation Organization, Reuters.
An Airbnb spokesman declined to comment on the filing of the complaint.
Chris Lehane, Airbnb's global policy and communications manager, said in a statement to Reuters: "Israel is a great place and our more than 22,000 hosts are special people who have welcomed hundreds of thousands of in Israel.
"We understand that it is a difficult and complicated problem and we appreciate everyone's point of view."
Airbnb's withdrawal applies only to Israeli settlements in the West Bank, where Palestinians have limited autonomy under Israeli military occupation.
It does not apply to Israel itself, nor to East Jerusalem and the Golan, territories annexed by Israel without international recognition. Israel removed the settlers from another Palestinian territory, the Gaza Strip, more than a decade ago.
Israel strongly opposes the international boycott, including the boycott of settlements, which it regards as discriminatory.
An Israeli law of 2017 empowers the courts to award cash compensation to claimants who prove that goods or services have been refused to them because of their place of residence.
Written by Ori Lewis; Edited by Peter Graff and Alison Williams
