Israel/Palestine
Related: About this forumAirbnb Slammed For Offering Rooms With A View In Jewish Settlements
By William Booth February 2 at 1:01 PM
KFAR ADUMIM, West Bank — The Airbnb host said that once his guests see the view, “nobody wants to talk politics.” Igal Canaan, a Jewish settler, threw open the doors of his designer apartment to reveal a jaw-dropping panorama of blue sky and Judean wilderness.
“In the morning, you can see shepherds with their flocks,” said Canaan, pointing out a distant village often associated with the birth of the prophet Jeremiah. “The view is totally biblical.”
All this, plus swimming pool, kitchenette, fast WiFi and maybe a “welcome” bottle of wine, just 20 minutes from Jerusalem, for about $80 per night.
The guest reviews call it awesome — but according to the Palestinians, it is also very wrong.
The Palestinian Authority says offering vacation rental properties in Jewish homes in the occupied West Bank, through U.S.-based sites such as Airbnb, Booking.com and TripAdvisor, violates international law.
MORE...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/airbnb-slammed-for-offering-rooms-with-a-view-in-jewish-settlements/2016/02/01/fd1717ac-c39f-11e5-b933-31c93021392a_story.html
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Little Tich
(6,171 posts)This is why BDS is needed - the settlements are not only illegal, they are the cause of Apartheid in the West Bank. They should be removed, and BDS is a non-violent tool for accomplishing that.
6chars
(3,967 posts)one time, i got a place that was right across the street from a bar, and people were still whooping it up at 4AM.
Little Tich
(6,171 posts)BDS.
azurnoir
(45,850 posts)nice that they're there for you
King_David
(14,851 posts)I stayed in east Jerusalem at an Arab families guest house once right in the old city , was fannnntastic , Gay life all around and quite legal and tolerated too , no problems at all ...unlike nearby Ramallah where it's pretty dangerous to be outwardly gay ... Highly recommended , fabulous....
shira
(30,109 posts)Last edited Wed Feb 3, 2016, 07:24 AM - Edit history (1)
Followed by BDS being invoked - a vulgar anti-peace movement committed to Israel's destruction & dedicated to the nazification of Israel, thus inciting terror attacks on Jews - which BDS'ers support & defend as natural resistance.
Classy.
Little Tich
(6,171 posts)Source: Wikipedia
(snip)
In 2009, a comprehensive 18-month independent academic study was completed for the Human Sciences Research Council of South Africa for the South African Department of Foreign Affairs on the legal status of Israel's occupation of East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The specific questions examined in the study were whether Israeli policies are consistent with colonialism and apartheid, as these practices and regimes are spelled out in relevant international legal instruments. The second question, regarding apartheid, was the major focus of the study. Authors and analysts contributing to the study included jurists, academics and international lawyers from Israel, the occupied Palestinian territories, South Africa, England, Ireland and the United States. The team considered whether human rights law can be applied to cases of belligerent occupation, the legal context in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories and related international law and comparative practices. The question of apartheid was examined through a dual approach: reference to international law and comparison to policies and practices by the apartheid regime in South Africa. Initially released as a report, the report was later edited and published in 2012 (by Pluto Press) as Beyond Occupation: Apartheid, Colonialism and International Law in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
Regarding international law, the team reported that Israel's practices in the OPT correlate almost entirely with the definition of apartheid as established in Article 2 of the International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid. (The exception was the Convention's reference to genocidal policies, which were not found to be part of Israeli practices, although the team noted that genocide was not the policy in apartheid South Africa either.) Comparison to South African laws and practices by the apartheid regime also found strong correlations with Israeli practices, including violations of international standards for due process (such as illegal detention); discriminatory privileges based on ascribed ethnicity (legally, as Jewish or non-Jewish); draconian enforced ethnic segregation in all parts of life, including by confining groups to ethnic "reserves and ghettoes"; comprehensive restrictions on individual freedoms, such as movement and expression; a dual legal system based on ethno-national identity (Jewish or Palestinian); denationalization (denial of citizenship); and a special system of laws designed selectively to punish any Palestinian resistance to the system.
Thematically, the team concluded that Israel's practices could be grouped into three "pillars" of apartheid comparable to practices in South Africa:
The first pillar "derives from Israeli laws and policies that establish Jewish identity for purposes of law and afford a preferential legal status and material benefits to Jews over non-Jews".
The second pillar is reflected in "Israel's 'grand' policy to fragment the OPT [and] ensure that Palestinians remain confined to the reserves designated for them while Israeli Jews are prohibited from entering those reserves but enjoy freedom of movement throughout the rest of the Palestinian territory. This policy is evidenced by Israel's extensive appropriation of Palestinian land, which continues to shrink the territorial space available to Palestinians; the hermetic closure and isolation of the Gaza Strip from the rest of the OPT; the deliberate severing of East Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank; and the appropriation and construction policies serving to carve up the West Bank into an intricate and well-serviced network of connected settlements for Jewish-Israelis and an archipelago of besieged and non-contiguous enclaves for Palestinians".
The third pillar is "Israel's invocation of 'security' to validate sweeping restrictions on Palestinian freedom of opinion, expression, assembly, association and movement [to] mask a true underlying intent to suppress dissent to its system of domination and thereby maintain control over Palestinians as a group."
(end snip)
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel_and_the_apartheid_analogy
Note: My bolding.
I base my opinion on facts. If you have anything that would refute the Apartheid analogy, please post...
King_David
(14,851 posts)Last edited Wed Feb 3, 2016, 12:25 PM - Edit history (1)
Hating , socially backward places too?
Such as Uganda , Palestinian statelets, Iran, Saudi Arabia ?
I can recommend some fantastic hostels and hotels and BnBs in East Jerusalem that I have stayed in both Arab and Jewish owned if you PM me.
leftynyc
(26,060 posts)yes for the Palestinian territories, Saudi Arabia and Uganda but no for Iran. Looks like they have no time to distinguish between countries that oppress women, gays, minorities but THIS offering has their detractors in a swoon. We already the ones whining about THIS are hypocrites - here is just more to add to the mountain of proof.
https://www.airbnb.co.in/s/Saudi-Arabia?type=villa
https://www.airbnb.com/s/Palestinian-Territories
https://www.airbnb.com/s/Uganda
Little Tich
(6,171 posts)From what I understand, the West Bank is one of the few places in the world with Apartheid. There's of course Tibet, but China isn't a democracy, so it's not so easy to boycott the Chinese Apartheid in Tibet. If china was a democracy, and still treated the Tibetans in the same way they do today, I would definitely call for a boycott of China's activities in Tibet.
King_David
(14,851 posts)Gays not important to you.... No need for boycott against Uganda or Palestine or Saudi Arabia or Iran by Airbnb....as long as a Jewish Settler is boycotted you are happy?
Let them eat cake ?
Little Tich
(6,171 posts)The way I choose to answer is wholly dependent on my own political views and what I personally think should be done to combat discrimination. It's very possible that you have a different opinion on these matters.
I firmly believe that civil rights should be full and equal for all individuals or members of identifiable groups, and that these rights should be under an umbrella of basic / constitutional rights that are inalienable. I believe that there can't be civil rights for one group and not another - for practical purposes, all groups and individual are in the same boat, and there can't be full rights for LGBT people if there aren't full rights for others and vice versa. This means that for example Saudi Arabia, where women's suffrage to the sham parliament was awarded only recently, probably won't further rights for LGBT people anytime soon, simply because there's no foundation for meaningful civil rights for anyone. All forms of civil rights are interdependent.
I think that the way to further LGBT rights is to further civil rights in general, preferably through a constitution that guarantees rights for all, which will then be implemented by legislators and courts. The US is a good example of this, where there are individual states that actively try to discriminate against LGBT people, but their attempts get thwarted because there is a constitution guaranteeing these rights. I know that the situation in Saudi Arabia is far from being acceptable, but all we can do is to constantly point out that what they do is wrong, and lean on them heavily to stop them from doing it, while at the same time try to promote civil rights.
A blanket boycott of Saudi Arabia wouldn't be meaningful because it's not specific enough, and it wouldn't help to promote civil rights. It's the same thing with Uganda, even though the discrimination of LGBT people there is more specific.
Israeli
(4,148 posts)Airbnb, it has come to our attention, enables anyone to rent rooms and vacation homes in Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Anyone who is not of Palestinian descent, of course.
Without exception, the listings, some which appear to be luxurious cottages and others that are caravans sitting on barren hilltops, make no mention of the fact that they are in settlements on occupied land. Almost all claim to be in Israel, despite the fact that they lie beyond the country’s borders.
Exploring the Airbnb website turns up dozens of cheap rooms and homes with pastoral views and many just a short drive from Jerusalem — all pretty enticing. Especially if nobody tells you that you’re paying to be a settler for a few days.
Fifteen minutes from Jerusalem
Many of the listings we found appeared similar to the type of rural weekend getaway cabins — “tzimmerim” — one can find throughout northern and southern Israel. But we also found far more troubling listings.
For instance there was the caravan listed in Havat Gilad — “[a] small village really in the nature. It is very private place with a very fresh air and gorgeous view.” The price for one night: NIS 325 ($83).
What the listing fails to mention is that Havat Gilad is actually a settlement outpost, illegal even according to Israeli law. Someone making a reservation on Airbnb has no way of knowing that the outpost was — at least partially — illegally built on Palestinian land. There is no mention of the fact that more than one resident of Havat Gilad have been convicted of violent “price tag” attacks against Palestinians and their property.
Similarly, one can rent a room in the “Ma’ale Rehavam” outpost, which was also illegally built on private Palestinian land. The settlement outpost was named after Rehavam Ze’evi, one of Israel’s most famous proponents of population transfer. The “nice place in the Judean desert … about 15 minutes driving from Jerusalem” can be had for just NIS 239 ($60) a night. When we enquired about renting the room, however, the lister declined, citing the fact that “the government has yet to connect it to electricity.”
It is worth repeating that none of these listing mention the fact that they are located within the borders of the state 135 countries recognize as Palestine.
Declined due to the ‘political situation’
Israeli settlements in the West Bank are almost entirely Jewish-only communities for a number of reasons, including legal and military restrictions. We wanted to know whether Airbnb reservations would adhere to the local segregation regime. In order to test the theory, we created an online persona of an American citizen of Palestinian descent who wanted to come to visit and enjoy the quieter and cheaper option of staying in an Israeli settlement.
We attempted to make reservations at dozens of listings, contacting dozens of Airbnb hosts — and succeeded at securing one single room. Most of the time, Haled, the name we gave our would-be vacationer, was declined for no stated reason. Some hosts, however, were honest enough to say why they wouldn’t rent to Haled.
In the settlement of Tekoa, known for its relative openness, which the hosts described as “a sweet welcoming neighborhood with helpful people,” Haled was politely turned away. The host responded: “I’m very sorry but I don’t think that it’s possible … it’s very sensitive here … hope that in [a] different life we could be good friends.”
In the settlement of Anatot, for a NIS 690 ($175) unit promoted as “Nature at its Best,” the hosts were more matter-of-fact: “I am sorry but we will not be able to confirm your reservation. Due to the political situation it is not possible at this time. All the best and happy holidays.”
This appears to be thinly veiled discrimination along ethnic or national lines. Even if the hosts reserve the right to refuse service to anyone they want, the decision to do so on an ethnic or national basis is problematic, to say the least.
The only place where our request was accepted was another listing in Tekoa, where Haled was told he would have to undergo a special security check at the entrance to the settlement. The host’s description of the special procedure as a “problem” suggests that it isn’t implemented for guests of other ethnic or national backgrounds:
Who profits?
Not only are settlers directly profiting from the occupation by renting out their rooms and guesthouses online, so is Airbnb, the American company that takes a 3 percent fee from hosts and a 6-12 percent fee from guests. All Israeli settlements are illegal under international law.
Airbnb’s website does not differentiate between rooms in Palestinian cities towns and those in Israeli settlements — its maps of the West Bank display no differentiation between areas under Israeli control, and those under Palestinian control.
The “Green Line” is delineated by an easily missed and not-clearly-labeled dotted line, which means that even a person who does not want to become a temporary settler has no way of knowing what they are getting into. Moreover, a search for units in the Jerusalem area brings up results of several rental options in nearby settlements — beyond the 1949 armistice line.
By charging for listings in illegal West Bank settlements, Airbnb enables Israelis and foreigners alike to financially support the settlement economy and even profits itself off the theft of private Palestinian land. By not clearly distinguishing what is a settlement and what isn’t, the company also runs the risk of misleading its customers into inadvertently lending their hand to that very theft.
According to Airbnb, there is no difference between the Jerusalem area and West Bank settlements. (screenshot: Airbnb.com)
There is no doubt that the Airbnb units in Israeli settlements feature breathtaking views, but the situation in the West Bank is anything but normal. The red-roofed settlement houses with luxurious pools and manicured gardens are real, but they also function as a facade. Behind every settlement is a village whose land was forcefully taken and Palestinian families whose children were hauled off to military prisons in the middle of the night. Depending on one’s nationality, there are even separate sets of laws in the West Bank.
It is needless to say that none of that information is offered to an unwitting tourist looking to Airbnb in order to find a cheap place to stay on the outskirts of Jerusalem.
Radio silence
We had about as much luck getting a response to this article from Airbnb as we did renting a room in a West Bank settlement outpost on the company’s website.
Despite repeated requests over several weeks, the California-based company never responded to our questions. We wanted to know whether the company was worried about the legal liabilities of doing business in Israeli settlements and whether it is concerned by the discrimination almost guaranteed to take place when renting housing units in the settlements.
After several weeks of radio silence, we contacted Airbnb again — this time as Haled, complaining about ethnic discrimination.
Within two minutes of sending that message, the company responded saying that it would put Haled in touch with a “community expert” — Airbnb’s most knowledgeable community members, who are selectively chosen to help hosts and guests with answers to their questions.
Sure enough, within a couple of minutes, a “community expert” sent Haled a message expressing how “upset” he was by the situation, and urging me to me to report the offending hosts to the company.
Source : http://972mag.com/airbnb-lets-you-vacation-in-illegal-west-bank-settlements/115666/
shira
(30,109 posts)It's fine to oppose the Israeli government, but it can be done legitimately w/o inciteful language that only encourages more attacks on Jews worldwide and within Israel today.
leftynyc
(26,060 posts)it's coming from. And the same people whine about the Jerusalem Post. Hypocrites all.
Israeli
(4,148 posts)Over 150,000 sign petition calling on Airbnb to pull out of Israeli settlements as part of the #StolenHomes campaign, which was launched by a consortium of organizations following an investigative report by +972 and Local Call.
Continue reading @ :
http://972mag.com/global-protests-target-airbnb-over-israeli-settlement-rentals/119842/
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Little Tich
(6,171 posts)listings in the illegal settlements?
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