Why Airbnb will no longer accommodate the occupied West Bank

Airbnb’s decision to cease advertising all properties in Israeli settlements built on occupied Palestinian territory on its website was more a commercial decision than a moral standpoint. The company tried to take the sting out of the tail of a damning report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Israeli civil society organization Kerem Navot.

The report demonstrated that Airbnb was contributing “to making settlements sustainable economically” and benefitting from the “serious rights abuses and entrenched discriminatory practices stemming from the settlements.”

According to HRW and Kerem Navot, which monitors and carries out research on Israeli land policy in the West Bank, international commercial interests that trade with illegal Jewish settlements are aiding and abetting the perpetuation of the occupation and thereby the abuse of Palestinians’ human rights.

There was little surprise at the response to the report, and especially to Airbnb’s decision, from Israel’s government and the settler movement.

They understand that this was a meaningful victory for those who believe that public pressure can lead to economic interests withdrawing their businesses from settlements. If the price of adverse publicity is bigger than the economic benefit in continuing their ties with these illegal entities, businesses might well think twice about sustaining those ties.

Israel’s government is coming out with all guns blazing — metaphorically — to paint this objection to the occupation as an attack on the very existence of the Jewish state. This is how the Israeli prime minister and his coalition partners attempt to fend off all criticism. There is an obvious fear that what is now a trickle of businesses that are ceasing, officially or not, their operations in Jewish settlements, will become a flood.

Economically, the damage inflicted by Airbnb’s decision is minimal as it only has around 200 listings in West Bank settlements. However, symbolically it is significant and explains why Israel’s Tourism Minister Yariv Levin called the decision disgraceful and a miserable surrender, and ordered his office to “formulate immediate measures to limit the company’s activity throughout the country.”

Another Israeli minister appealed to US state governors to impose economic sanctions against Airbnb. A protest song has even been composed against the company. While this is all to be expected, the only surprise is that it has taken so long for such a high-profile corporation to withdraw its business in light of the great deal of damaging public criticism it has been receiving.

For decades the occupation, as much as the blockade of Gaza, has been almost cost-free for Israel. Countries have protested, UN resolutions have been passed and ignored, and reports by nongovernmental organizations have described the intolerable conditions in which Palestinians live under occupation. But no steps have been taken to avert these conditions or make them costly for the occupier.

As long as there was money to be made, companies were reluctant to make a principled stand and not do business with settlements. And both Airbnb and Booking.com have been rather economical with the truth by listing 76 properties in the occupied West Bank as being located in Israel. Even Israel does not formally claim these places to be part of the Jewish state.

There is a wider issue here of the human rights responsibilities that the business world must recognize and maintain. Israel claims that it is being singled out compared to other countries. This must be challenged. The same standards should be applied everywhere in the world.

While acknowledging that the nature of human rights violations can vary from place to place, there are still clear international criteria to enable the application of a consistent and persistent approach that would undermine any attempt by any country to deflect from its own abuses.

Yet it cannot be a legitimate argument for any government, including Israel’s, to claim that it can continue its misdeeds merely because other countries are not being held accountable. It is a disingenuous act of subterfuge. Economic pressure is a legitimate measure to persuade the Israeli government to stop the expansion of settlements and become less intransigent in reaching a peace agreement with the Palestinians.

There is a near consensus among experts in international law that the occupation is illegal, and that the treatment of the Palestinians has been one long procession of human rights abuses.

Those who enter into commercial relations with settlements are shirking their responsibilities under the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and other international conventions.

Regarding Airbnb and Booking.com in the West Bank, there is a clear discriminatory practice. Israelis and foreigners may use these companies to rent properties in settlements, but “Palestinian ID holders are effectively barred — the only example in the world the organizations (HRW and Kerem Navot) found in which Airbnb hosts have no choice but to discriminate against guests based on national or ethnic origin,” the report said.

The onus is on the Israeli government to either prove that this is not the case or change its policies. Israel has long entrenched the occupation by expanding settlements and employing harsh practices against the Palestinian population. The international community, including the business sector, has done very little to try and change this.

The HRW and Kerem Navot report demonstrates that international advocacy can be very effective in influencing the behavior of businesses. If Israel will not change course, this mode of protest might accelerate, with severe consequences.