[News] Airbnb rents in Illegal West Bank Settlements (not if you are Arab or Palestinian)

[Anti-Imperialist News]

  Airbnb Presence Affirned in Illegal West Bank Settlements - /(they are
  based in SF)/

author Sunday January 10, 2016 23:10
*http://www.imemc.org/article/74517*

    *Airbnb is enabling anyone to rent rooms and vacation homes in
    illegal Israeli settlements
    <http://www.imemc.org/newswire?topic=israelisettlement> in the
    occupied West Bank.

Screenshot of an Airbnb listing in the illegal settlement of Anatot in 
the occupied West Bank.
Screenshot of an Airbnb listing in the illegal settlement of Anatot in 
the occupied West Bank.

According to an article published by +972 Magazine, last week, the list 
of places to rent, some of them even luxurious cottages, make no mention 
of the fact that they are in illegal settlements on occupied Palestinian 
land.

Almost all on the list claim to be in “Israel” – despite the fact that 
they are in the occupied West Bank.

“Exploring the Airbnb website turns up dozens of cheap rooms and homes 
with pastoral views and many just a short drive from Jerusalem – all 
pretty enticing. Especially if nobody tells you that you’re paying to be 
a settler for a few days” – +972 M. reported.

Tekoa, Ma’ale Adumim, Nofei Prat, and Kfar Eldad — Airbnb gives its 
users the opportunity to rent a room in West Bank settlements.

The Magazine made a test, according to the PNN: they created a fake 
profile of an American citizen of Palestinian descent who want to come 
to visti and :enjoy the quieter and cheaper option of staying in an 
Israeli settlement” and started making reservations at dozens of 
listings and contacting dozens of Airbnb hosts – settlers.

The result: they only received one positive answer back, while all of 
the others stated that due to the political situation it wouldn’t be 
possible, or even did not replied them.

“Someone making a reservation on Airbnb has no way of knowing that the 
outpost was — at least partially — illegally built on Palestinian land. 
There is no mention of the fact that more than one resident of Havat 
Gilad have been convicted of violent “price tag” attacks against 
Palestinians and their property”, +972 M. stated.

The major problem for people that are not familiar with the Palestine 
situation, is that Airbnb’s website does not differentiate between rooms 
in Palestinian cities towns and those in Israeli settlements — its maps 
of the occupied West Bank display no differentiation between areas under 
Israeli control, and those under Palestinian control.

By charging for listings in illegal settlements in the occupied West 
Bank, Airbnb enables Israelis and foreigners alike to financially 
support the settlement economy and even profits itself off the theft of 
private Palestinian land.

+972 Magazine tried to contact Airbnb in California, but it didn’t 
receive any answer. When they contacted them with their fake profile, 
the company immediately answered saying that they were very upset with 
the situation.

/*Airbnb was founded in August of 2008 and is based in San Francisco, 
California. In their website they are describe as: “A is a trusted 
community marketplace for people to list, discover, and book unique 
accommodations around the world — online or from a mobile phone or tablet.

Whether an apartment for a night, a castle for a week, or a villa for a 
month, Airbnb connects people to unique travel experiences, at any price 
point, in more than 34,000 cities and 190 countries. And with 
world-class customer service and a growing community of users, Airbnb is 
the easiest way for people to monetize their extra space and showcase it 
to an audience of millions”./
-- 
Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 
863.9977 www.freedomarchives.org
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20160111/8180d0f1/attachment.htm>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: date.gif
Type: image/gif
Size: 114 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20160111/8180d0f1/attachment.gif>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: airbnbpnn.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 68361 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20160111/8180d0f1/attachment.jpg>