Airbnb has reversed its high-profile decision to remove listings for homes in Israeli West Bank settlements.
The company released a statement Tuesday, saying: “We have settled all lawsuits with hosts and potential hosts and guests who objected to a policy the company recently announced concerning listings in disputed areas”.
“We understand the complexity of the issue that was addressed in our previous policy announcement, and we will continue to allow listings throughout all of the West Bank”.
The initial decision, announced in November, would have affected about 200 listings - from private individual rooms to entire homes.
Following the November announcement, Airbnb faced legal challenges in the Jerusalem District Court and in U.S. federal courts in Delaware and California.
“We commend Airbnb for recognising that it had landed on the wrong side of this issue and changing the policy,” said Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, a lawyer involved in one of the U.S. cases, in a statement that called the previous decision “abject discrimination against Jewish users” of Airbnb.
In November, Israel’s strategic affairs minister, Gilad Erdan, called the decision to de-list the properties “appalling in its hypocrisy”, noting Airbnb operates in other countries with disputed territories.
Airbnb says it has “always opposed the BDS movement [and] has never boycotted Israel [or] Israeli businesses” and “recognises that there are many other disputed territories around the world”.
Under Airbnb’s new policy, profits from listings in the West Bank and other disputed areas “will be donated to non-profit organisations dedicated to humanitarian aid that serve people in different parts of the world”.
