A global coalition launched today a campaign against the international home-renting company, Airbnb, for reversing its decision to delist properties in illegal Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem, according to a press release.

In April, Airbnb confirmed it would not implement a planned delisting of Israeli settlements, which are considered illegal under international law, in the occupied West Bank and would “donate proceeds from any of these bookings to international humanitarian aid organizations,” even though the listings are “at the core of the dispute between Israelis and Palestinians.”

Tomorrow, Nakba Day, join the global campaign calling on people to deactivate their @Airbnb accounts.

By allowing listings in Israel's illegal settlements built on stolen Palestinian land, Airbnb is enabling an ongoing Nakba. #deactivateAirbnb: https://t.co/1oY7grrl2w pic.twitter.com/5hl6QyAqg0

— BDS movement (@BDSmovement) May 14, 2019

The global coalition is requesting that people worldwide should deactivate their Airbnb accounts on May 15th on Nakba Day or “catastrophe.”

So far, thousands of people across the world, from Chile to Indonesia, have answered the coalition’s call to action and have committed to deactivate Airbnb.

Palestinians can't return to stolen land that @Airbnb allows settlers to rent out.

Join us to #deactivateAirbnb today, Nakba Day – a day that commemorates the expulsion of Palestinians from their homes & lands 71 years ago.

Airbnb enables ongoing Nakba https://t.co/NrTxgwFolk pic.twitter.com/f8bzpvbXBC

— BDS movement (@BDSmovement) May 15, 2019

The press release said that,

“Israeli settlements are considered war crimes under international law and are responsible for the displacement of Palestinians and the theft of their land. By doing business in these settlements, Airbnb and other international companies are contributing to the economic viability of settlements and are normalizing Israeli annexation of Palestinian land.”

Despite the intense documentation and scrutiny from prominent human rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, Airbnb is choosing to directly promote discrimination, oppression, and injustice – and failing to uphold its corporate responsibility to respect human rights, the press release said.

Hey @Airbnb I just deactivated my account because you reversed your decision to withdraw from West Bank settlements, contrary to international law. You gave in to legal bullying and are participating in the oppression of Palestinians, and it's not ok. #deactivateAirbnb pic.twitter.com/aGEU0HSvu4

— Rebecca Vilkomerson (@RVilkomerson) May 15, 2019

Salem Barahmeh, executive director of the Palestine Institute for Public Diplomacy, said:

“It is time to end this culture of impunity that has allowed the occupation, oppression and dispossession of the Palestinian people to continue.”

Palestinians and allies are tweeting #deactivateAirbnb today — on the 71st anniversary of the Nakba.

The campaign urges people to deactivate their Airbnb accounts because it continues to list properties in illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. pic.twitter.com/kinvmj6cQH

— AJ+ (@ajplus) May 15, 2019

Barahmeh added:

“International companies are complicit in perpetuating this injustice and must be held accountable. Through the #deactivateAirbnb campaign, people can choose whether to be complicit in supporting war crimes or ending them.”

On May 15, Palestinians commemorate the 1948 Nakba, or “catastrophe”, re-focusing the world’s attention on the 750,000 Palestinians displaced during and after the establishment of the state of Israel, and the more than five million Palestinian refugees, who wait to return to their lands.

(Ma’an, PC, Social Media)