Airbnb Needs an ‘Illegal Settlement' Filter, Now
Company accused of war profiteering for allowing listings in Israeli settlements in Occupied Palestinian Territory.
Airbnb has listings all over the world, including, according to a group of human rights organizations, ones in Israel's illegal settlements within the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The groups say those rentals violate a promise once made by the company to remove listings in the region and may amount to the company profiting from war crimes. As a result, Airbnb now faces a series of legal actions in the US, UK, and Ireland led by human rights groups over its ongoing operations in the West Bank.
The legal challenges are being brought by the Global Legal Action Network (GLAN), Sadaka Ireland (the Ireland-Palestine Alliance), and Palestinian human rights group Al-Haq. The groups claim that there are currently over 300 properties listed for rent on Airbnb that are part of Israel's settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, which have been deemed illegal by the International Court of Justice. Included in those more than 300 properties, the groups allege, are Palestinian refugee properties that were taken during the Nakba, which expelled nearly one million Palestinians from their homes.
The ongoing operations, the groups allege, may amount to 'money laundering by Airbnb of proceeds of Israeli war crimes.' They argue that the Israeli settlements constitute a war crime as they violate the Geneva Conventions and breach several international declarations. As such, the groups claim that Airbnb is facilitating business and handling money that is derived from war crimes, which is considered money laundering under UK and Irish law.
The trio of human rights groups first filed a criminal complaint against Airbnb over its business in the Occupied Palestinian Territory in 2023, targeting the company's subsidiary in Ireland. The action, which is still being reviewed by the High Court, would be the first ever to raise alleged complicity in war crimes in an Irish court, according to the groups.
Those continued actions in Ireland are now part of a multi-jurisdictional effort, as GLAN and Al-Haq have lodged a criminal complaint with the UK's National Crime Agency against Airbnb over alleged money laundering charges related to the company's collection of payments for rentals in the Israeli settlements. GLAN has also sent a 'preservation letter' to Airbnb's parent company in the United States, instructing it to preserve documents relevant to Airbnb's involvement in the settlements.
The goal of the groups is to set a precedent that would discourage businesses from operating directly or indirectly within Israel's illegal settlements. 'These are the first ever cases to apply anti-money laundering legislation to business activity in the illegal Israeli settlements,' GLAN Senior Lawyer Gerry Liston said. 'They demonstrate that individual senior executives of companies profiting from Israel's occupation of Palestinian territory face a personal risk of prosecution for a very serious criminal offense.'
Airbnb previously acknowledged that its operation within the Israeli settlements did not meet its own standards for safety and responsibility. In 2018, the company announced that it would remove listings in Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory in part of an effort to 'act responsibly.' But it reversed that decision in 2019 and has allowed listings in the region ever since. Airbnb claims that those operations do not violate any laws.
'Airbnb operates in compliance with applicable Irish and US laws,' a spokesperson for Airbnb told Gizmodo. 'Since 2019, Airbnb has donated all profits generated from host activity in the West Bank to an international nonprofit, in line with our global framework on disputed territories.'
Ashish Prashar, senior advisor to the Middle East Peace Envoy, took issue with Airbnb's position.
'The International Court of Justice ruled that Israel's occupation of Palestinian territory, that includes the West Bank, is illegal. They ruled that all States must prevent trade or investment that supports that occupation. Airbnb listing property in the West Bank is in breach of that ruling,' he said.
'Calling these 'disputed territories' undermines Palestinian sovereignty, reinforces the Israeli occupation of the land and actively supports their cruel domination of the Palestinian people, which is in clear breach of international law. In Airbnb's response, I see no difference between them and Ambassador Huckabee, who is actively calling for the ethnic cleansing of Occupied Palestine,' Prashar said.
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