Jews Sue ‘Anti-Semitic’ Airbnb For Scrapping West Bank Listings
Image by Airbnb
JERUSALEM (JTA) — A group of Jewish-American citizens have sued Airbnb in U.S. federal court over the announcement that it will remove the listings of homes in Jewish settlement.
The 18 plaintiffs filed the civil rights lawsuit in the United States District Court in Delaware alleging that the internet hospitality company has enacted a new policy discriminating against them based upon their religion.
The lawsuit, filed under the Fair Housing Act, accuses Airbnb of redlining the Jewish-owned properties while continuing to allow Muslim and Christian homeowners to rent theirs, thus also taking a side in the dispute between Israel and the Palestinians over West Bank land.
The lawsuit asks the court to prevent Airbnb from discriminating against Jewish homeowners and asks for compensation for lost rental income.
Airbnb announced early last week that it would remove the some 200 listings for rentals in the West Bank. As of Thursday morning the listings remained on its website. The company said that it consulted with experts to learn about the historical disputes in the region in order to make a decision about whether it should be doing business in “the occupied territories.”
The plaintiffs are twelve Jewish-American citizen families who own properties in Israel and one U.S. citizen who has used Airbnb to rent properties in areas of the West Bank. The lawsuit has been organized by the Israeli human rights law organization Shurat HaDin-Israel Law Center in Israel.
An Israeli woman who rents guestrooms in her home in the West Bank outpost of Kida filed a separate lawsuit last week in Jerusalem District Court, citing the country’s anti-discrimination laws.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Our Goal: 500 gifts during our Passover Pledge Drive!
