Airbnb removes West Bank listings — Political decision?

Airbnb’s move will affect some 200 Israelis listed on the site.

Israeli Tourism Minister Yariv Levin has demanded that Airbnb cancel its “discriminatory decision,” calling it “disgraceful and miserable.”

Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely said Airbnb is discriminating against Israelis “only because of their place of residence. This is hypocrisy of the first order to harm the State of Israel alone and not to engage in other international conflicts.”

Deputy Minister Michael Oren called for a boycott of Airbnb.

“Airbnb blacklists Jewish apartments in Judea and Samaria—not Palestinian apartments, not apartments in Turkish-occupied Cyprus, in Moroccan occupied Sahara, not in Tibet or the Crimea,” he tweeted. “Airbnb’s policy is the very definition of anti-Semitism. No one should use its services.”

“Airbnb says it won’t list places in ‘disputed territories’ when those residences are owned by Jews, and not otherwise,” tweeted law professor Eugene Kontorovich. “That’s not a policy about disputed territories, but about Jews.”

Efrat local council Chairman Oded Revivi expressed “disappointment” over Airbnb’s “surrender to extreme pressure, thereby damaging the essence of its existence as well as its uniqueness.”

“The decision does an injustice to Israelis living in Judea and Samaria, constitutes a surrender to extremists and is a mistake that distances peace,” he underscored.

Focus: "Airbnb blacklists Jewish apartments in Judea and Samaria—not Palestinian apartments, not apartments in Turkish-occupied Cyprus, in Moroccan occupied Sahara, not in Tibet or the Crimea."

While Airbnb claims that “building an inclusive platform for all hosts and guests is our greatest goal,” this blatantly discriminatory policy shows otherwise. We must not remain silent in the face of this anti-Israel move.