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Amnesty International does not mention that Palestinians have found employment in Israeli areas of Judea and Samaria or that Israel granted the Palestinians the power to rule themselves in the 1990s.
By United With Israel Staff
After Airbnb initially succumbed but ultimately returned to doing business with Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria, Amnesty International is now trying its hand at pressuring TripAdvisor, which touts itself as the “world’s largest travel site.”
“Learn to shoot like a soldier, ride a camel or take a tour of historic sites – all on stolen land! Thanks to help from TripAdvisor, these are all activities you can do when visiting one of the many illegal Israeli settlements,” writes Amnesty on its website, urging its readers to “tell TripAdvisor to pull out of illegal Israeli settlements in occupied Palestine.”
The human rights group charges that “settlements have a devastating impact on a wide range of human rights of the Palestinian people, including their rights to an adequate standard of living, to housing, to health, to freedom of movement and to education.”
What Amnesty International does not state is that Palestinians have found employment in Israeli areas of Judea and Samaria and that Israel granted the Palestinians the power to rule themselves in the 1990s with the ultimate aim of establishing their own state. Nor does Amnesty mention that rampant Palestinian terrorism in Israel – including some 1,000 people killed in 2000-2005 – was instrumental in stopping Israel from allowing the Palestinian Authority (PA) to upgrade to the status of statehood.
Amnesty also refrains from mentioning that the self-rule authority has its own ministries in charge of a range of issues from housing to health, but that instead of encouraging socio-economic growth, the PA pays stipends to terrorists and their families.
The Palestinian Authority also boycotted the U.S.-led Bahrain conference which took place in late June even though its aim was to create regional growth, in particular in the Palestinian territories.
Amnesty International also omits the historic truth that Israel has, in negotiations, offered the PA almost all of Judea and Samaria, as well as some land within the recognized borders of the State of Israel in exchange for the territory where Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria would remain in a final agreement.
Instead, Amnesty International attempts to cause economic harm to Israel by stating that in “driving tourism to the settlements, TripAdvisor is contributing to…human rights violations.”
In a statement, TripAdvisor responded by saying that it aims “to provide travelers with an apolitical, accurate, and useful picture of all accommodations, restaurants, and attractions that are currently open for business around the world.”
Property or business listings on TripAdvisor do “not represent our endorsement of that establishment. We provide the listing as a platform for guests to share their genuine experiences with other travelers. As such, we do not remove listings of properties or businesses that remain active and open for business,” said Brian Hoyt, senior director of TripAdvisor’s corporate communications, in the statement.
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