LONDON, 30 Jan. - (ANA)  - Human rights campaigners will set up a “barbed-wire beach” outside the London headquarters of the online travel company TripAdvisor on Wednesday 30 January at 12 noon.

 

Braving London’s winter weather, campaigners in swimwear - wearing sunglasses, sunhats and in one case a snorkel and flippers - will lounge on Amnesty-branded deckchairs in front of a fake palm-tree scene erected in Soho Square in central London (7 Soho Square, London W1D 3QB).

 

Coils of barbed-wire and “No Palestinians allowed” signs will surround the mock beach while the swimwear campaigners apply sun-cream and light-heartedly play with beach balls, water pistols and a giant unicorn float. Other holiday paraphernalia - such as a suitcase branded with stickers - will form part of the mock holiday set-up.

 

Meanwhile, a selection of upbeat holiday music will play throughout the time of the stunt, expected to last 10-15 minutes.

 

The barbed-wire beach, organised by Amnesty International, is designed to draw attention to the fact that TripAdvisor arranges holidays in illegal Israeli settlements in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian Territories. A new Amnesty report to be published on the morning of the stunt will show how TripAdvisor and other online tourism giants Airbnb, Expedia and Booking.com are profiting from the settlements and contributing to their existence and expansion.

 

In November, Airbnb announced it would withdraw some 200 listings for properties located in Israeli settlements in the West Bank, with the company saying the move recognised that the settlements “are at the core of the dispute between Israelis and Palestinians”.

 

At the conclusion of the beach stunt, Amnesty International UK’s Director, Kate Allen, will hand a formal letter into TripAdvisor’s offices. Kate Allen [quotes embargoed until 12 noon Wednesday 30 January] said: 

 

“We’re here to advise TripAdvisor that they need to check out of the illegal Israeli settlements.

 

“Holidays are supposed to be fun, not part of a wider system of human rights abuse.

 

“Along with Airbnb, Expedia and Booking.com, TripAdvisor should stop this tainted trade in the settlement holiday business.”

 

 

 

 

Amnesty has been calling on governments around the world - including the UK Government - to ban the importation of all goods and services from the settlements. Every year, hundreds of millions of pounds’ worth of goods from the settlements are exported internationally, despite the fact that most countries have officially condemned the settlements. In the UK, imported settlement goods include oranges, dates, spring water and halva desserts.

 

Last month, Amnesty and the MP Andy Slaughter handed a hamper of spoof goods - dubbed “Delicious but tainted” - into the Foreign Office to draw attention to the issue. Foreign Office officials were also presented with a 54,000-strong petition from Amnesty supporters.

 

 

 

 

During the course of the 51-year occupation, more than 50,000 Palestinian homes and structures have been demolished, and tens of thousands of Palestinians have been forcibly removed. In their place, more than 600,000 Israeli settlers have been allowed to move into often purpose-built settlements, approximately 250 in number, with many of the settlements serviced by settler-only roads and guarded by a network of Israeli military checkpoints and other security infrastructure. The settlements are illegal under international law and a war crime.

 

In total, approximately 1,000 square kilometres of Palestinian land has been expropriated by Israeli settlers in the past half-century.  - (ANA) -

 

AB/ANA/ 30 January 2019 - - -