gal Canaan, a Jewish settler and Airbnb host, threw open the doors of his apartment to reveal a panorama of blue sky and wilderness. Once they see the view, “nobody wants to talk politics”, he said.
“In the morning, you can see shepherds with their flocks,” he said, pointing out a village associated with the birth of the prophet Jeremiah. “The view is totally biblical.” All this, plus pool, kitchenette, fast wi-fi and maybe a “welcome” bottle of wine, just 20 minutes from Jerusalem, for about £56 per night. Guest reviews call it awesome – but according to Palestinians, it is also wrong.
The Palestinian Authority has said offering vacation rentals in Jewish homes in the occupied West Bank, through US-based sites such as Airbnb, Booking.com and TripAdvisor, violates international law. The cottages and villas are not in Israeli “neighbourhoods”, as some listings suggest, but in Jewish settlements that most of the world consider illegal and the US calls “unhelpful” to the peace process. Not a typical holiday, then.
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