Vacation rentals on stolen land

Since its formation some three years ago, the Palestine Justice Working Group (PJWG) has encouraged members of the UCC Wisconsin Conference to learn more about the situation in Palestine-Israel and to accompany this learning with specific, tangible actions in support of justice for Palestinian men, women and children. (A carefully selected set of learning resources and recommended actions may be found on the PJWG website.) In response to requests for “What next steps can we take?”, we invite you to learn about and participate in a boycott of two specific companies: Airbnb and Booking.com.

What’s wrong with these two companies? Both of these companies – Airbnb and Booking.com – are suitable candidates for boycott. Both advertise vacation rental properties on stolen land in illegal Israeli settlements throughout the West Bank. Both companies are knowingly complicit in Israel’s military occupation, and both are guilty of war crimes per the Fourth Geneva Convention. Both companies are on the United Nations list of companies whose practices support Israel’s military occupation.

The theft of land to make way for Israeli colonial settlements is a violent act that deprives Palestinian families of their homes, livelihoods, and the very communities in which they live. This stolen land where many Airbnb and Booking.com rental properties are located is guarded by the Israeli military. No Palestinian may step foot on it, except by special permission from the Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security agency.

Renting properties on land stolen from its Palestinian owners is a clear violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention. Airbnb and Booking.com are knowingly complicit in Israel’s illegal annexation and colonization of Palestinian land for exclusive use by Israeli settlers.

Airbnb and Booking.com’s rentals incentivize Israel to SUSTAIN and GROW  the operation of these illegal settlements.

Further harm is caused because Airbnb and Booking.com’s listings normalize the operation of illegal settlements, making it seem that profiting from theft of another’s property is a regular, acceptable part of the fabric of life.

We thus ask that members of the Wisconsin Conference UCC to avoid, when possible, doing business with these two companies, until these companies cease renting properties on stolen Palestinian land. You can learn more about the situation here:

A further thought: The boycott of products and services is perfectly legal. Boycotts are a constitutionally protected form of free speech. In the case of NAACP v. Claiborne Hardware Co. (1982), the Supreme Court ruled that an economic boycott constitutes a form of constitutionally protected expression akin to traditional means of communication (such as speaking and writing) as a means of achieving group goals.

An important clarification: The Palestine Justice Working Group is NOT asking congregants to  join this boycott as congregations. Instead, we are inviting individual congregants throughout Wisconsin to join us (we ourselves are members of ten different congregations) in making a personal, moral commitment to look elsewhere for vacation lodging.

And a request: As we go forward with the Boycott Airbnb and Booking.com initiative, we seek your advice and ideas for engaging most effectively with Wisconsin Conference congregants. Any ideas and insights you may have will be most welcome and appreciated. Kindly contact Tom Beilman.