140,000 demand Airbnb to shut down settlement rentals

An international coalition of pro-Palestinian groups is demanding that the online vacation rental company Airbnb immediately stop listing properties in the illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.

The groups, which include Jewish Voice for Peace and the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, made the demands in a petition delivered to Airbnb offices in London, Paris, San Francisco and Portland, Oregon.

The petition has more than 140,000 signatures, the groups said.

“By listing these homes, Airbnb is directly helping Israeli settlers legitimize their occupation of stolen land, contributing to a key piece of the Israeli government’s decades-long policies of occupation, discrimination, and dispossession,” the petition says.

In addition to violating international law, the settlement properties are “literally and completely off-limits” to Palestinian Airbnb users, the petition says.

Airbnb has not issued a response to the petition.