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Airbnb Tag

We previously covered the policy implemented by Airbnb last November to ban listings from Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria (the "West Bank"). That amounted to a de facto Jewish boycott because Jews are forbidden under Palestinian Authority law and practice from buying homes outside the settlements, and Palestinians could be killed for selling or renting to a Jew.

In November, Airbnb announced that it would delist Jewish homes, and only Jewish homes, in Judea and Samaria (the "West Bank"). As I explained at the time, the delisting nominally referred to homes in Settlements, but in the West Bank that is the only place Jews can purchase or rent homes because of Palestinian laws and threats against any Palestinian who rents or sells land to Jews:

When Airbnb announced in mid-November 2018 that it would delist Jewish homes in Judea & Samaria (the "West Bank"), the move met with cheers from anti-Israel activists, who had worked for years to pressure Airbnb. The U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights (fka U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation) is an umbrella group for numerous anti-Israel activists and groups supporting the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. USCPR is one of the most extreme anti-Israel groups, as we have documented numerous times.

Airbnb has been under a sustained pressure campaign by anti-Israeli activist groups to cease listing homes and apartments for rent in Israeli Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria (the "West Bank"). The area was ethnically cleansed of Jews by the Jordanians after Jordan captured the area in Israel's War of Independence. The 1949 Armistice Line was where the fighting stopped, and left many historically Jewish areas, including the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem, in Jordanian hands. Israel recaptured the area in 1967.

As if we needed more proof that we do not fully own our homes or property! Virginia faced three bills to regulate Airbnb type rentals, but only one made it to the Senate floor. Yes, the Virginian government wants to regulate how YOU rent out YOUR property to someone because it's totally their business. The bill from Senate Majority Leader Tommy Norment (R-james City County) made it to the floor:
“The shared economy presents a 21st century challenge to the General Assembly,” Senate Majority Leader Tommy Norment, R-James City County, said . “Who would’ve thought it would be like this five years ago?”

On Friday, New York's Governor Andrew Cuomo signed into law NY State Senate bill S6340, making it illegal in the state of New York to advertise "for the use of dwelling units in a class A multiple dwelling."  This law is aimed at Airbnb, a San Francisco-based homestay network that coordinates the rental of private properties by the homeowners. Not unlike Uber, a transportation network, Airbnb eliminates the often union-driven marketplace for a given service; with Uber it's taxis and with Airbnb, it's hotels.  And as with Uber, unions are not happy with the explosion of Airbnb and lobbied in New York state for the passage of this law that establishes a minimum of at least 30 days for peer-to-peer rental of private property and provides for fines up to $7,500 for those in violation. The Hill reports:

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo banned short-term rentals on Airbnb after he signed a bill on Friday making it illegal to list unoccupied apartments on the service for stays under 30 stays.