Berliner Tageblatt - Airbnb and Booking.com accused in France over Israeli settlement listings

In the case submitted in Paris, the Ligue des droits de l'Homme (LDH) alleges that the platforms were complicit in the aggravated concealment of war crimes.

"These multinational companies, by offering their services and provisions, enable and facilitate, both directly and indirectly, the creation... and the expansion of Israeli settlements," said the group's lawyer, Patrick Baudouin.

The settlements, which have expanded since Israel occupied the West Bank in 1967, are considered illegal under international law.

More than 500,000 settlers are living in the Palestinian territory, excluding Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem. Some three million Palestinians live in the territory.

According to the LDH, the practices of both platforms constitute "assistance... to the concerted Israeli plan of colonisation and destruction of the Palestinian population".

Airbnb does not specify that the properties offered for rent are located in Palestinian territory. Instead, it only names the settlement, without indicating that it is one.

Booking.com mentions that the accommodation is in Israeli settlements and is "in Palestine".

Places of interest for tourists and how far they are away from the rental properties are mentioned, which helps "to sustain occupation tourism", said Baudouin.

The UN, which regularly condemns the occupation of Palestinian territories, on September 26 said it had identified 158 firms from 11 countries linked to activities in Israeli settlements, including Airbnb and Booking.com.

On June 30, the UN special rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, condemned major travel platforms that promote tourism which "legitimises annexation".

There was no immediate response from Airbnb and Booking.com when contacted by AFP.

In February this year, British newspaper The Guardian reported having identified 402 listings for apartments, hotels and houses, in Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Some 350 were on Airbnb and 52 on Booking.com, totalling 760 rooms able to accommodate more than 2,000 people.

Airbnb announced in November 2018 the removal of rental listings in Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

But the listings were reinstated in April the following year, after lawsuits in Israel and the United States, where Jewish Americans accused it of religious discrimination.

The company then promised that all profits generated would go to humanitarian aid worldwide.

Other legal complaints against Booking.com have been issued in the Netherlands, and against Airbnb in Ireland, the UK and the United States.

M.Odermatt--BTB