Caabu letter to Airbnb about its policy of listing properties within illegal Israeli settlements

Caabu has written a letter to Airbnb's Head of Policy for Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Canada about its policy of listing properties within illegal Israeli settlements. They are marketed as being inside the State of Israel. 

Dear Patrick Robinson,

I am writing to raise issue with Airbnb’s policy of listing properties within Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian land as being inside the state of Israel.

Properties in settlements such as Efrat, Ma’ale Rehavam and Tekoa are beyond the Green line. Thus they are considered illegal under international law as a breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention and reinforced by the United Nations Security Council Resolution 446 (March, 1979). By allowing these properties to be listed as part of the State of Israel, AirbnB is in effect promoting continued settlement building and the occupation of Palestinian land in general.

Settlement building continues to be a major stumbling block to finding a solution to this conflict. Each successive Israeli government has advanced the settlement project in the West Bank; confiscating Palestinian land in occupied territory and settling Israeli-Jewish citizens on it.  Although settlements are illegal under international law, in the twenty years since the signing of the Oslo Accords the Israeli settler population has more than doubled from 262,500 in 1993 to over 550,000 today.  There are 228 settlements in the West Bank, 27 Israeli military closed areas and bases, and over one hundred outposts, which are illegal under Israeli law, as well as international law. Around 57% of the settler population lives within 10km of the Old City in Jerusalem, where Palestinians hope to make their future capital. Settlements have isolated the city, home to a quarter of a million Palestinians, from the rest of the West Bank. 

In 2016 alone, the Israeli government has declared 370 acres in the West Bank, south of Jericho, as so-called "state land".  Furthermore, Israel has continued with its demolitions of Palestinian homes in Area C of the occupied West Bank. These provocative acts are bound to increase the growth of settler populations and further exacerbate tensions in the region.

In the past, several Israeli settlements have been built on demolished Palestinian homes. It is not inconceivable that AirbnB may eventually list a property in a settlement that has been constructed atop one of these recent demolition sites in the West Bank.

The European Union has taken steps in the past year to ensure clear distinction between Israel and illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank.  As of November 2015, most produce from Israeli settlements must be labelled as such and not as ‘Made in Israel’. This allows consumers to make a conscious decision about whether or not they wish to support these illegal settlements.

Caabu would urge Airbnb to end all business with properties in settlements given their complicit support in the continued occupation in the West Bank. If however, Airbnb does continue to list properties from illegal settlements, at least such properties be labelled as such and not misleadingly as part of the State of Israel.

We look forward to your response.

Yours sincerely,

Chris Doyle

Director