Group files rights suit over Airbnb’s Israel settlement ban

A group of Americans has filed a civil rights suit in a US federal court against vacation rental company Airbnb over its decision to ban listings from West Bank settlements.

The plaintiffs said in a statement Wednesday that Airbnb is discriminating against Jewish West Bank homeowners and doesn’t maintain a similar policy in other disputed territories around the globe.

Airbnb announced last week it would delist around 200 properties and cease operations in Israeli West Bank settlements, which most of the international community considers illegal.

Airbnb said in a statement Thursday that it doesn’t believe the suit filed in Delaware will succeed, but added: “We know that people will disagree with our decision and appreciate their perspective.”

A similar case was filed last week in a Jerusalem court.

All Israeli settlements are seen as illegal under international law and major obstacles to peace as they are built on occupied Palestinian territory.

Palestinians and activists have criticised international businesses that operate in, or import goods from, these settlements for perpetuating them.

More than 600,000 settlers live among 2.9 million Palestinians in the West Bank and annexed east Jerusalem.

As a financial incentive for the expansion of settlements, the average settler receives three times more in public subsidies than a resident of Israel within its pre-1967 borders, or Green Line.

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