Israel-Palestine Tensions: Airbnb to remove West Bank listings

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Online hospitality giant Airbnb has announced it will remove hundreds of listings in Israel's occupied West Bank. This has put Israel's government on the offensive. Israel has accused Airbnb of anti-Semitism. But Airbnb says the decision is in support of humanitarianism. CGTN's Stephanie Freid has the report.

For about a hundred and twenty dollars a night, a family of four can stay here at the Trails of the Bible vacation apartment in Har Bracha settlement.

There's lots of wide open space, the neighbor's horses roam freely on the hillside. There are sweeping, strategic views of neighboring Palestinian villages.

But Tirzah Mevoroch can't count on Airbnb to bring in business for her much longer.

Citing criteria that includes determining whether a listing contributes to human suffering, the San Francisco-headquartered travel industry giant is pulling listings in the Israeli Occupied West Bank.

STEPHANIE FREID ISRAELI OCCUPIED WEST BANK "Critics say three Palestinian villages were evacuated to create the community here and that's why Airbnb is removing the listings."

OMAR SHAKIR ISRAEL-PALESTINE DIRECTOR, HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH "They've taken an important stand against land theft, discrimination and policies that undermine the human rights of Palestinians."

Israeli settlements on Palestinian land occupied by Israel since 1967 are considered illegal under international law.

Regardless, Israeli officials call the Airbnb move biased.

MICHAEL OREN ISRAELI DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER "Singling out Israel - singling out the Jewish State - or Jews - for treatment that's not meted out to any other state or any other condition or any other dispute in the world is by definition anti-Semitic."

Airbnb refutes that claim.

Tirzah's vantage point, the Old Testament says the land is hers.

TIRZAH MEVOROCH HAR BRACHA, ISRAELI OCCUPIED WEST BANK "They want me to leave here? Leave my land? Why should I? Why? It's mine. This has always been - and will be in a thousand years - the nation of Israel's land. Forever."

Israel's next move: Apply pre-existing U.S. anti-boycott laws and take the fight against Airbnb to the U.S. Congress. STEPHANIE FREID, CGTN, IN THE ISRAELI OCCUPIED WEST BANK.