Warned By Booking.com
JERUSALEM: Online travel agency Booking.com said Monday it
would add disclaimers to listings in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, becoming
the latest foreign company to join one of the world's most contentious debates.
Booking.com said customers booking accommodation in Israeli settlements should be aware that they are traveling to a "contested, conflict-affected or high-risk" area which "may pose a greater risk". It is."
According to the Associated Press, the company is still
working on security warning language for the Israeli-occupied West Bank and
certain other areas of the world. Neither a date nor an effective date was
specified for the alert.
As a result of Israeli raids on towns and villages this
year, at least 85 Palestinians have died in violence in the West Bank. The
Israeli army said on Monday that a vehicle caught fire as it drove through a
Palestinian village in the northern West Bank. No injuries were reported.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry declined to comment.
Most of the world views settlements built on land occupied
by Israel during the 1967 Middle East war as a violation of international law.
In the occupied West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem, there remain 700,000
Jewish settlers. These lands were requisitioned by the Palestinians as part of
a future independent state.
Online travel agencies such as Yugo.pk, Airbnb and Booking.com have
long been under pressure from Palestinian authorities, activists, and human
rights organizations to remove their listings from the country.
It is possible, however, that they could enrage Israel if
they do. Anti-Israeli boycott supporters, including those who support products
made in settlements, have accused Israel of anti-Semitism. After lawsuits in
the US and Israel, Airbnb scrapped plans to restrict settlement listings in
2019.
Ben & Jerry's was embroiled in a similar controversy.
Last year, the Vermont company sparked outrage in Israel when it announced it
would no longer sell its products in the occupied West Bank.
However, Ben & Jerry's ice cream is said to be available
again in the occupied territories after parent company Unilever sold the
brand's Israeli business to a local licensee.
Booking.com's announcement focuses on safety rather than the
legality or legality of regulations. Disclaimers such as this are thought to
demonstrate the success of Israel's pressure, according to some Israelis.
This shows that Booking.com has taken notice of the huge
losses that Airbnb and Ben & Jerry's themselves have suffered in boycotting
Israeli-controlled territories,” said Eugene Kontorovich, director of the
Kohlet Policy Forum's international law department. A conservative Israeli
think tank. "At the same time, they want to throw a bone at anti-Israel
activists."
The Council on American-Islamic Relations, the largest
Muslim civil rights organization in the United States, hailed the travel
advisory as a move to "acknowledge the reality of corporate and human
rights abuses." man" and urged other foreign companies to follow
suit. demand. demand.
Booking.com said its safety banner for the West Bank would
be similar to the safety banner currently displayed in Ukraine or Cyprus. In
addition to warning travelers of "heightened customer safety risks at this
location", Alert for Ukraine recommends that they review "travel
guidelines for your government for this region".
The company declined to say whether the warnings would also
apply to Palestinian properties in the West Bank, such as those in Hebron and
Ramallah.
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