The Whole AirBnB Fiasco Is A Good Pretext For Not Cleaning My House
By Yaakov Cohen, Gush Etzion resident
Efrata, December 19 - Don't tell my wife, but the recent foofaraw over de-listing Jewish-owned short-term rental properties in Judea and Samaria provides just the excuse I need to delay clearing out that spare bedroom we've been using as storage space and making it livable again.
I'm going to dress it up in just the right terms when we talk, though. One does have to maintain appearances for diplomacy's sake. "Oh, wouldn't you know it, I was just about to find a better place for those boxes of old textbooks and binders, but it doesn't make so much sense now, huh. Those bastards." "Yeah, I know, I was also looking forward to earning a bit of extra income on that room, but you know how it goes." That kind of thing.
Renting out the room on AirBnB was my idea in the first place, so this helps me save face, at least temporarily. I suppose I owe Human Rights Watch a little thank you for their efforts in saving me some hard work. While I'm at it, you don't think any of them would like an old wooden cradle? I think it's an antique. My brother-in-law slept in it as a baby fifty years ago, so it's gotta be worth something. Couldn't bear to just chuck it. Well, in the back of the spare bedroom it stays. No need to disturb anything there now. Certainly not the boxes of audio cassettes I haven't gotten around to converting to digital. Any month now on that score. I think there might even be a Lez Miz original Broadway cast album in there.
Outwardly I have to act as if I'm really annoyed, that it's unconscionable for AirBnB to cave like that to propaganda and harassment by so-called human rights organizations. All that's true, but I'm finding it hard to get totally into the indignation when the situation suits me just fine. I mean, Lord knows what the hell I was going to do with those random cables and connectors I could swear we'll have a desperate need for within days of getting rid of them.
Still, there could be a reversal. Even if there isn't, my wife might hear about any of the dozen alternatives to AirBnB such as Booking.com, VRBO, or this new Israeli site launched specifically to address the AirBnB thing, OlehStay. Then I could really be in trouble.
Here's hoping they don't cave.
We have lots of ideas, but we need more resources to be even more effective. Please donate today to help get the message out and to help defend Israel.
This blog may be a labor of love for me, but it takes a lot of effort, time and money. For 20 years and 40,000 articles I have been providing accurate, original news that would have remained unnoticed. I've written hundreds of scoops and sometimes my reporting ends up making a real difference. I appreciate any donations you can give to keep this blog going.
Matthew Syed is not a serious man
-
“Politics in the Middle East is literally a life and death struggle”, not,
foreign policy scholar Robert D. Kaplan observed, “the Kantian paradise
of...
...
Matthew Syed is not a serious man
-
“Politics in the Middle East is literally a life and death struggle”, not,
foreign policy scholar Robert D. Kaplan observed, “the Kantian paradise
of...
...
The Amazonian epic of two Moroccan Jews
-
In the 19th century Jews left Morocco to brave natural disasters and
hostile tribes in Brazil in order to build up a business trading in rubber.
In a Fa...
They Condemn Israeli Aggression Again
-
Dry Bones Golden Oldies in the fond memory of Yaakov Kirschen (Dry
Bones) by Sali, the LSW. (Long Suffering Wife). This cartoon is from 1973.
It is a ...
Jonathan Sacks: The Zealot Pinchas
-
Jonathan Sacks: The Zealot Pinchas IsraelSeen.com
Jonathan Sacks: The Zealot Pinchas With Pinchas a new type enters the world
of Israel: the zealot. “Pinch...
Bennett Ruda | The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com
-
Bennett Ruda has been blogging at daledamos.blogspot.com since 2003. He
also contributes to the Elder of Ziyon website. Bennet lives in Elizabeth,
New Jers...
One Choice: Fight to Win
-
Yesterday Israel preempted a potentially disastrous attack by Hezbollah on
the center of the country. Thirty minutes before launch time, our aircraft
destr...
Closing Jews Down Under Website
-
With a heavyish heart I am closing down the website after ten years.
It is and it isn’t an easy decision after 10 years of constant work. The
past...
‘Test & Trace’ is a mirage
-
Lockdown II thoughts: Day 1 Opposition politicians have been banging on
about the need for a ‘working’ Test & Trace system even more loudly than
the govern...