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South Florida town passes resolution against Airbnb boycott of Judea and Samaria

“Let’s make South Florida a shining light and beacon of truth, good and love prevailing over hatred, evil and hypocrisy throughout the world,” exclaimed Surfside Vice Mayor Daniel Gielchinsky.

Airbnb Office. Credit: Open Grid Scheduler/Flickr.
Airbnb Office. Credit: Open Grid Scheduler/Flickr.

The town of Surfside, Fla., in Miami-Dade Country, condemned Airbnb on Wednesday for violating an agreement with the town that prohibits discriminatory boycotts amid the online hospitality service removing its listings in Judea and Samaria last month over what the company alleged as “Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank that are at the core of the dispute between Israelis and Palestinians.”

The Surfside commission unanimously passed a resolution introduced by Vice Mayor Daniel Gielchinsky.

“Let’s make South Florida a shining light and beacon of truth, good and love prevailing over hatred, evil and hypocrisy throughout the world,” he exclaimed.

“BDS is a campaign disguised as anti-Semitism. We have a responsibility to speak up against hate and condemn this action by Airbnb from city hall to the governor’s mansion.” said StandWithUs CEO Roz Rothstein in a statement. “We applaud the efforts of the vice mayor and governor-elect [Ron] DeSantis. We urge other cities, counties and states to follow their lead.”

According to StandWithUs, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez will be introducing a resolution to the city government.

Governor-elect Ron DeSantis has promised to take strong action against Airbnb shortly after being sworn into office next month.

“They delisted all Jewish listings in the West Bank,” said DeSantis last month. “They do not treat anybody else in the entire world like this. It’s only targeted to the Jewish community.”

“These movements don’t stop with a boycott. We know where this is going, and that’s why we are going to get out ahead of it,” an attorney at the center told JNS.
On May 9, vandals spray-painted antisemitic symbols and Bible references on the Waukesha County memorial, which includes a steel beam from the World Trade Center.
“I’m not sure we should make the deal if they don’t sign,” the U.S. president said at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday. “I think they owe that to us.”
The protest was “a powerful show of solidarity,” Jayne Zirkle of the Lawfare Project told JNS. “To condemn people for attending such an event is to condemn the very principles of freedom our nation was founded on.”
“If publicly-funded institutions cannot host such events without folding to pressure, serious questions arise about that funding,” a Jewish House of Lords member said.
The attacks followed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s announcement on Tuesday that the IDF is deepening its operations in Lebanon.