International home accommodation company Airbnb today announced that it has decided to remove all its listings on West Bank settlements.
The Airbnb site posted the following announcement. “We concluded that we should remove listings in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank that are at the core of the dispute between Israelis and Palestinians.”
The website did not say when the listings in West Bank settlements would be removed. There are an estimated just over 200 listings in Jewish settlements in the West Bank.
Israel's Minister of Tourism has demanded that Airbnb retract their decision and has called on his ministry to take steps to limit Airbnb's operations in Israel. He has also instructed his ministry to launch a campaign promoting tourism to Judea and Samaria.
Shay Alon, Mayor of Beit El near Ramallah said, "Once again Jews are undergoing selection and we are not very happy with the boycott by Airbnb. I call on Israelis to come and have a vacation in Judea and Samaria. We have splendid views, clean air and accommodation that is far better than most of those that you are used to."
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on November 19, 2018
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