Boycott Airbnb: City of Sydney Petition

PETITION: Tell City of Sydney Council to boycott Airbnb

Airbnb is a major target of the BDS movement because of its role in facilitating tourism and normalising Israel’s illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.

By facilitating short-term rentals in illegal settlements, Airbnb enables, exacerbates and normalises Israel’s illegal occupation, contributing to the dispossession and forced displacement of Palestinians.

Now, City of Sydney for Palestine is calling on the City of Sydney Council to take action against Airbnb in Sydney. The proposed motion is a concrete step towards reducing Airbnb’s power and presence in Sydney. This motion brings the Council closer to implementing BDS principles and uses councils regulatory power to challenge Airbnb for its complicit in Israel’s illegal settlement enterprise.

This builds on the historic 2025 motion in which Council committed that it will not fund, invest in, or enter into contractual relationships with companies complicit in illegal Israeli settlements. The new motion is an opportunity to turn that commitment into further action, and demonstrate that local councils can play a role in building pressure for corporate accountability and Palestinian rights.

You can read the specific petition text and motion proposal here.

ADD YOUR NAME: DEMAND CITY OF SYDNEY BOYCOTT AIRBNB.

Petition text:

To the Lord Mayor and Councillors of the City of Sydney,

Airbnb is a target of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement because of its role in enabling tourism in illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. 

By listing and profiting from accommodation on stolen Palestinian land, Airbnb consolidates Israel’s occupation, apartheid and dispossession of Palestinians from their homeland. 

At a time when Israel is committing genocide in Gaza and escalating violence across occupied Palestine, City of Sydney should not ignore corporations that normalise occupation and displacement.

Airbnb also profits from displacement of locals here in Sydney.

The City of Sydney region is experiencing severe housing stress, with rising rents, low rental vacancy rates and growing homelessness. At the same time, thousands of homes are being used as short-term rental accommodation through platforms such as Airbnb.

In August 2026, Sydney’s vacancy rate was 2.1%. Meanwhile, there were 20,573 active Airbnb listings in the Greater Sydney local area. In several suburbs there are significantly more Airbnb homes than homes advertised for rent.

AirBNB and short-term rentals are exacerbating the housing and cost-of-living crisis. All levels of governments have enabled Airbnb to wreak havoc on our communities. 

We call on the City of Sydney Council to take steps towards boycotting Airbnb by taking stronger action against the platform. We call on Council to support New York-style Airbnb regulations

This campaign brings together housing justice and Palestine solidarity movements around a shared demand: homes and land should not be treated as assets for corporate profit while communities are displaced.

We call on the City of Sydney to implement New York style laws for Airbnb and all short-term rentals platforms. We need a minimum 30 days rental and host and guests in a common household.  No registration means no listing.

Homes for people, not Airbnb profit.