AIRBNB LISTING : COMPANY IS ‘DEEPLY COMPROMISED’ BY ISRAELI SETTLEMENT PROPERTIES
10 December 2020 | Amnesty International
▻https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2020/12/airbnb-listing-company-is-deeply-compromised-by-israeli-settlement-properti
▻https://www.amnesty.org:443/remote.axd/aineupstrmediaprd.blob.core.windows.net/media/20681/258799.jpg?center=0.5,0.5&preset=fixed_1200_630
As Airbnb prepares to go public in a multi-billion-dollar Initial Public Offering (IPO) it must withdraw listings of rental properties built illegally on the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT), Amnesty International said on 10 December 2020.
The San Francisco-based online accommodation company has around 200 properties for rent in the illegal Israeli settlements that are at the heart of systematic human rights violations faced by Palestinians.
These settlements are a war crime under international law. Airbnb needs to do right by future investors and stop benefiting from illegal settlements built on stolen Palestinian land in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
Saleh Higazi
Two years ago, Airbnb said it would remove accommodation in the settlements from its listings, before reversing its decision.
Responding to reports that Airbnb is set to become a publicly-listed company after filing IPO documents in the US, Saleh Higazi, Deputy Regional Director for Middle East and North Africa, said:
“These settlements are a war crime under international law. Airbnb needs to do right by future investors and stop benefiting from illegal settlements built on stolen Palestinian land in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
Shamefully, Airbnb has been promoting and benefiting from a situation that is a root cause of the systematic human rights violations faced by millions of Palestinians on a daily basis.” (...)