UKLFI has urged travel companies to ignore Amnesty International’s calls for them to boycott Israeli businesses in areas administered by Israel.

UKLFI has written to Expedia.com, Booking.com and TripAdvisor, pointing out that

·        Amnesty International  has a record of prejudice against Israel of which this campaign is a further example.

·        The discriminatory boycotts proposed by Amnesty International would expose the companies to substantial liabilities and sanctions under US federal and state counter-BDS laws .

·        AirBnB, which recently announced an ill-considered boycott of Jewish clients in Judea and Samaria/West Bank, is  being sanctioned  in Florida and is  set to be added to Illionois State’s prohibited investment list. Airbnb also faces law suits in Delaware, California, Jerusalem and potentially other jurisdictions:

Amnesty International’s treatment of Israel in recent years has been permeated by bias and prejudice, and this most recent, misleading campaign is no exception. NGO Monitor has analysed Amnesty International’s latest report  HERE

Amnesty International’s  latest attacks on the Jewish state come at a time when it is facing increased criticism over its own antisemitism.  In 2018, Amnesty antagonized the British Jewish community by cancelling a debate with Hillel Neuer of UN Watch, sponsored by the Jewish Leadership Council, scheduled to be held at Amnesty’s Human Rights Centre in London.

Jonathan Turner, chief executive of UKLFI commented: “Expedia, Booking.com and Trip Advisor rightly provide important services in many jurisdictions around the world, including in a number of disputed territories. There is no justification to exclude areas administered by Israel on the ground that their final status has not yet been resolved.”

When Amnesty conducted “an unprecedented large scale analysis of abuse against women on Twitter,” it included sexism and racism against female journalists and politicians, but not antisemitism.