A major human rights controversy has erupted in France, as two global travel giants — Airbnb and Booking.com — face a legal complaint accusing them of promoting what activists call “occupation tourism” in Israeli settlements within Palestinian territories.
The Ligue des droits de l’Homme (LDH), a leading French human rights organization, has filed the lawsuit in Paris, asserting that both companies are complicit in the “aggravated concealment of war crimes.”
According to Patrick Baudouin, LDH’s lawyer, the platforms “enable and facilitate, both directly and indirectly, the creation and expansion of Israeli settlements.” These settlements, established since Israel’s occupation of the West Bank in 1967, are deemed illegal under international law. Over 500,000 settlers currently live in the occupied West Bank, excluding East Jerusalem, where around three million Palestinians reside.
The LDH claims that Airbnb and Booking.com’s listings contribute to normalizing the Israeli occupation. The listings often fail to clarify that the accommodations are located in Palestinian territories, with Airbnb naming only the settlement itself, while Booking.com lists properties as being “in Palestine,” often mentioning nearby attractions — a move the LDH says helps sustain “occupation tourism.”
The United Nations has repeatedly condemned the ongoing expansion of Israeli settlements. On September 26, the UN identified 158 companies from 11 countries connected to economic activities in these settlements — including Airbnb and Booking.com. Earlier, on June 30, UN special rapporteur Francesca Albanese denounced major travel platforms for legitimizing annexation through tourism promotion.
Both companies have faced similar scrutiny before. In 2018, Airbnb announced it would remove listings in West Bank settlements, only to reinstate them months later following lawsuits in Israel and the U.S., where Jewish-American plaintiffs accused the platform of discrimination. Airbnb later pledged to donate profits from those listings to humanitarian causes.
The lawsuit marks another flashpoint in the global debate over corporate ethics, human rights, and the role of international businesses in conflict zones. As the case unfolds, it raises one critical question — how far should global corporations go to ensure their business practices do not contribute to the suffering of others?
This isn’t just about travel listings. It’s about accountability, ethics, and the shared responsibility of global companies to uphold human dignity.
