Airbnb in Bethlehem

Regarding “Airbnb caves to BDS, nixes settlement listings” (November 20), some 2,000 years ago, a pair of Jewish “settlers” was denied accommodation at an inn. Mary and Joseph never met a “Palestinian” or heard a single word of Arabic.

With Christmas only weeks away, Brian Chesky, CEO of Airbnb, has chosen to re-enact the Nativity and tell pilgrims to go sleep in a manger. I’ll make a wild guess that “Brian Chesky” is not an Apache name – or Navajo, or Sioux. We Jews were already the indigenous people (Indians, blacks, aborigines) of Israel for 3,000 years before his settler parents arrived from Poland and Italy to steal America from its natives.

If he is truly determined to remove Airbnb listings for “disputed territories,” he has it wrong. He should start with Alsace, Corsica, Crimea, the Falkland Islands, French Guiana, Gibraltar, Northern Ireland, Puerto Rico, Tahiti, Tibet, Western Sahara – and perhaps the United States itself. STEVE BERGER

Ramat Gan

Judea and Samaria, now called the West Bank, were the home of three men whom my husband – a 94th Infantry rifleman held prisoner in Germany’s infamous Stalag 11b – met in 1944.

As he entered the British compound in order to trade Red Cross cigarettes for bread (his buddies were dying of starvation and amoebic dysentery), he heard three men speaking Hebrew. Amazed at hearing Hebrew in a German POW camp, he asked who they were.

“We are from Samaria in the Holy Land,” they said. My husband noticed the word PALESTINE sewn on the army shirts they had worn since being captured in Tabruk in 1941. They had volunteered with the British, their occupiers, to defeat Hitler; after being captured, they were shipped to Germany for incarceration. Like my husband, they were MIAs.

Airbnb, these are the real Palestinians – the ancient people of Israel, which the Romans called Philistia; Jews living in a land and place that you dispute is Jewish. They are the people you deny in your unfair decision to ignore their history and homeland.

The propaganda of groups who would destroy us and our rights to our ancient land has stolen your intelligence and morality. Restore the eligibility of the West Bank to its true and righteous status – the Land of Israel – and recognize its legitimacy for your customers. Otherwise, you fall into the trap of those who deceive you for their own egregious gain. DR. CAROL FINEBLUM Needham, MA

Hooray for Airbnb’s not listing West Bank properties! I expressed my concerns about listing these properties to Airbnb several dozen times. I won’t fool myself believing Airbnb listened to me; I’ll celebrate Airbnb’s decision.

Tourism Minister Yariv Levin is laughable, saying, “[Airbnb] will have to compensate [apartment owners] for the damage it does to them.” (November 20)

What damage? Nobody is required to use or make a living on Airbnb; how can there be damage? Is the Israeli government truly going to waste millions of shekels to sue Airbnb?

What boycott? Settlements are in “disputed” or “occupied” territory, depending on one’s vocabulary; there’s no boycott against Israel here... or has Israel annexed the West Bank?

What antisemitism? De-listing properties of Diaspora-Jewish or Israeli-Jewish owners is antisemitism; delisting properties in “disputed” or “occupied” territory is merely anti-occupation.

Levin makes one correct statement: Settlers can “move to other platforms.” Let them move. Nobody will get hurt. But he becomes delusional and petty, noting, “It will also teach a lesson to those who want to boycott us.” Really? Loss of 200 West Bank properties would dent Airbnb’s $2.6-billion revenue [2017]? Nobody would notice.

Airbnb, it’s about time! Yes, I’m Jewish and no, I do not support BDS. JUDY BAMBERGER O’Connor, Australia