After Airbnb, watchdog calls for Booking.com to remove settlement listings

Human Rights Watch says properties in West Bank can be rented by Israelis and foreigners but not by Palestinians, meaning hosts discriminate based on national or ethnic origin

20 November 2018

Human Rights Watch on Tuesday urged Booking.com to follow the example of Airbnb and withdraw listings for rentals located in settlements in the West Bank.

Airbnb said Monday it will remove such listings, just ahead of the release of an HRW report criticizing them. Israel strongly denounced Airbnb’s decision and threatened legal action against the company, while Palestinian officials welcomed it.

The US-based rights group issued its report on Tuesday and called on Booking.com to follow Airbnb’s “positive step.”

“By ending its brokering of rentals in illegal settlements on land off-limits to Palestinians, Airbnb has taken a stand against discrimination and land confiscation and theft,” Omar Shakir, HRW’s director for Israel and the Palestinian territories, told AFP.

Read more at https://www.timesofisrael.com/after-airbnb-watchdog-calls-for-booking-com-to-remove-west-bank-listings

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