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Welsh band Los Campesinos! have revealed they recently turned down a $60,000 offer to license one of their songs for an Airbnb commercial. The group cited the company’s business dealings on “stolen Palestinian land” and its contribution to the global housing crisis as reasons for their decision.
“In April we declined an offer of $60,000 to license a song of ours to an Airbnb commercial,” the band wrote on Twitter. “Airbnb continues to make money from stolen Palestinian land and contributes to the housing crisis worldwide. We do not wish to promote or profit from this. Free Palestine. Eat the Rich.”
Their stance is supported by a February 2025 report in The Guardian, which revealed Airbnb and Booking.com were advertising 760 rooms in illegal Israeli settlements on the West Bank, including 350 properties listed on Airbnb.
Several years before that in 2020, Airbnb was added to the United Nations Human Rights Council’s database of companies with ties to Israeli settlements in Occupied Palestinian Territory. Many cities worldwide have also banned short-term rentals in response to companies like Airbnb and Vrbo negatively impacting housing affordability.
In a follow-up tweet, Los Campesinos! explained their reasoning for publicizing the decision. “We’re sharing this because we have found similar acts of solidarity and protest by our peers to be inspiring,” they wrote. “Every time an artist takes a principled stance it makes it easier for the next artist to do the same ✊🏻”
While the band didn’t name any specific artists, there has been a recent trend of onstage protests in support of Palestine. At Glastonbury 2025 last month, the Northern Irish rap trio Kneecap led chants of “Free, free Palestine,” in a continuation of protests from their Coachella set earlier this year.
Also at Glastonbury, London punk-rap duo Bob Vylan drew backlash for leading a crowd chant of “Death to the IDF.” Both groups have since become the subject of a criminal investigation by the UK police, and Bob Vylan had their US visas revoked by the Trump administration.
We’re sharing this because we have found similar acts of solidarity and protest by our peers to be inspiring.
Every time an artist takes a principled stance it makes it easier for the next artist to do the same ✊🏻
— Los Campesinos! (@LosCampesinos) July 15, 2025
English (US) · 