NEW YORK – World Jewish Congress CEO and Executive Vice President Robert Singer issued a strong rebuke to Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky in a letter this week following the company's decision to remove and ban property listings of homes solely situated in Jewish communities in Israel-controlled areas of the West Bank.
The letter calls on Airbnb to further clarify and to reconsider its decision. In the letter, Singer wrote:
"It is important to recognize that many of the organizations that encouraged Airbnb to take this action are members of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions Movement, otherwise known as BDS, whose agenda is to attack and dismantle the world’s only Jewish State – the State of Israel.
In response to this political movement, more than twenty-five US states have passed legislation condemning BDS as antisemitic and racist, making it illegal for US-based companies to support the movement. Here, Airbnb’s acquiescence to BDS merely plays into the hands of those with a sinister agenda, and only makes peace harder to attain.
In Airbnb’s statement announcing the delisting, dated November 19, 2018, you outline core principles that your company uses when considering to remove properties from its platform. Yet, these principles have only been applied to Israel, while you continue to advertise properties in other disputed territories."
CLICK HERE to view the letter in full