Airbnb, banned by Texas agencies for boycotting Israel, may get reprieve
Politics // Texas Politics
Taylor Goldenstein April 9, 2019 Updated: April 10, 2019 11:11 a.m.
FILE - In this Jan. 17, 2016, file photo, a cat jumps at a guest house advertised on Airbnb international home-sharing site in Nofei Prat settlement at the West Bank. Airbnb is rescinding its plan to bar listings in Israeli settlements in the West Bank. The home-sharing company announced in November that it would remove approximately 200 listings in Israeli settlements, which are in territory disputed by Israelis and Palestinians. But on Tuesday, April 9, 2019, Airbnb said it has decided to allow listings throughout the West Bank but will donate any of its profits from the region to humanitarian aid organizations. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov, File)
Photo: Tsafrir Abayov, STR / Associated Press
The Texas Comptroller's office said Tuesday it's reviewing the inclusion of Airbnb on a list of companies that boycott Israel and are banned from doing business with the state after the company announced a change to its policy for listings in the West Bank.
The home-sharing company said in a statement that it's reversing a plan announced this November to remove about 200 rental listings from the territory, whose ownership is disputed by Palestinians. The company said it will donate the profits to humanitarian aid groups.
"Airbnb has never boycotted Israel, Israeli businesses, or the more than 20,000 Israeli hosts who are active on the Airbnb platform," the company said in the statement. "We have always sought to bring people together and will continue to work with our community to achieve this goal."
The company's decision to delist the properties had prompted the state last month to blacklist it in keeping with a 2017 law that bans state agencies from contracting with or investing in companies that boycott Israel. The law was touted by Republicans, including Gov. Greg Abbott, as a way to show solidarity with Israel.
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Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar praised Airbnb's decision Tuesday in a statement. Hegar's office is in contact with Airbnb as it reviews the details of the decision and determines whether to delist the company.
"I applaud Airbnb for taking the time to carefully consider its decision and impacts it could have on individual Israeli citizens as well as local and regional economies," Hegar said.
Airbnb's reversal settles a federal lawsuit by 12 dual U.S.-Israeli citizens who own homes in the settlements, says Tel Aviv-based Shurat HaDin Israel Law Center, an Israeli advocacy group that backed the suit.
Texas is one of several states to pass such a law in response to the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement against Israel. Launched in 2005 by Palestinian groups, the initiative aims to use economic pressure to push the country to end settlement in Palestinian territories, among other goals.
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The state has been sued twice over the law.
In a federal lawsuit filed this December, a Round Rock-based speech pathologist sued the state and Pflugerville Independent School District, saying the law violates her First Amendment right to free speech.
Days later, the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas filed a suit in Austin district court arguing the same on behalf of four government contractors who say they were forced to sign a pledge saying they wouldn't boycott Israel.
Taylor Goldenstein
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Taylor Goldenstein is a state bureau reporter covering the Attorney General and federal courts among other topics. She's previously written for the Austin-American Statesman, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune and Tampa Bay Times. She hails from the suburbs of Chicago and earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. In 2014, she was a visiting fellow at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University.
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