Case Summary

The European Legal Support Center (ELSC), Al-Haq, SOMO, and The Rights Forum recently submitted a criminal complaint to the Dutch Public Prosecution Service with the aim of holding Booking.com accountable for profiting from war crimes committed in the occupied Palestinian territory (OPT).

This case is being brought forward after years of research into Booking.com’s involvement in illegal Israeli settlements, and is part of a broader effort to establish corporate accountability for those businesses that profit from abuses in OPT. By facilitating the rental of vacation homes on land stolen from the indigenous Palestinian population, Booking.com profits from war crimes, which is illegal under Dutch criminal law, specifically article 1 (4) of the Dutch International Crimes Act (Wet Internationale Misdijven). By profiting from serious violations of international humanitarian law, Booking.com is bringing proceeds of these crimes into the Dutch financial system – which means that the company is guilty of money laundering, as asserted by the claimants.

The Nuhanovic Foundation has supported this case from the beginning, providing financial assistance for investigative and research costs, as well as legal fees. With this criminal complaint, our goal, along with our partner organisations, is to stop Booking.com’s involvement in international crimes on stolen Palestinian land and work towards ending corporate impunity for profits derived from Israel’s violations of international humanitarian law.

To know more about this case, click here.