Travel booking giants urged again to ban Israel settlement listings

Amnesty International has renewed its call for travel booking websites to ban listings in Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), reported Travel Weekly.

Six months on from the launch of a campaign urging online travel booking giants Airbnb, Booking.com, Expedia and TripAdvisor to delist Israeli settlements, Amnesty campaigner for Israel and oPt, Laith Abu Zeyad, says the four companies continue to list accommodation and attractions in the oPt.

“They are promoting these listings, and profiting from them, despite knowing that Israeli settlements in the OPT are illegal under international law and are at the root of a system of institutionalised discrimination and human rights violations suffered by Palestinian communities,” Abu Zeyad told Travel Weekly.

In a campaign update, “Amnesty International is urging TripAdvisor specifically – the second most visited website (after Google) reviewed by foreign tourists arriving in Israel – to ban listings” in the oPt, reported Travel Weekly.

READ: Palestinians are suing the illegal Israeli settlers who list stolen property on AirBnB

Amnesty has also urged TripAdvisor’s employees to speak out, in an open letter sent 10 July.

TripAdvisor, however, has accused the international human rights group of “disappointing rhetoric”.

“TripAdvisor’s aim is to provide travellers with an apolitical, accurate and useful picture of all travel and hospitality businesses that are open for business, anywhere in the world,” a company spokesperson told Travel Weekly.

There are more than 200 Israeli settlements in the oPt, all established in defiance of international law. Human rights group describe them as part of an inherently discriminatory regime.

Travel Weekly said it had contacted Booking.com and Expedia for comment.

READ: Amnesty urges TripAdvisor staff to act against Israeli settlement complicity