HRW urges Booking.com to follow Airbnb in banning settlement listings

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

Airbnb announced yesterday that it will remove settlement listings, just ahead of the release of an HRW report criticizing them.

The US-based rights group issued its report 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, tells AFP.

“It is an important and welcome step and we encourage other companies like Booking.com to follow their lead and stop listing in settlements,” he says.

Israel strongly denounced Airbnb’s decision and threatened legal action against the company, while Palestinian officials have welcomed the move.

— AFP

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