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Saeb Erekat, Airbnb, and BDS

(Institute for Contemporary Affairs-Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs) Amb. Alan Baker - PLO Secretary-General Saeb Erekat has been celebrating a decision by the Airbnb international home-rental company to remove listings of vacation apartments in Israel's West Bank towns and villages. The Airbnb decision is based upon a January 2016 letter sent by Erekat condemning the promoting of house rentals "in illegal settlements in the occupied State of Palestine." Erekat should know better than to distort facts, law, and history, thereby manipulating Airbnb into involving itself in issues to which it has no connection and cannot, in any way, contribute positively. In allowing itself to be manipulated, Airbnb is prejudicing a large basis of customer support among Jews, Christians, and Muslims, all of whom work together in the very areas that Airbnb is now boycotting. Above all, Airbnb has involved itself in a most partisan manner, singling out Israel only. It is supporting and sanctioning an openly hostile movement that is intent on causing economic and cultural damage to Israel and aligning itself with hostile groups supporting acts of violence and terror against Israel. Since no Palestinian state exists, there is no "occupied Palestinian state" or "occupied Palestinian territory" as Erekat claims. The issue of the disputed territories is an issue for future negotiations, as negotiated by Erekat himself. The writer participated in the negotiation and drafting of the Oslo Accords with the Palestinians and served as legal adviser and deputy director-general of Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
2018-11-22 00:00:00
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