More than 220 employees at Amsterdam-based Booking.com have signed a new petition calling on their employer to stop profiting from accommodations in illegal Israeli settlements.
However, CEO Glenn Fogel shows no signs of budging, despite mounting internal pressure and international criticism.
Employees are clear: “Booking must choose”
The latest internal petition, distributed last Thursday and seen by NRC, demands that the company immediately stop offering accommodations in the West Bank.
It’s just the latest chapter in a years-long internal battle that’s creating what staff describe as “serious reputational damage, burn-outs and disillusionment” within the tech giant.
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The petition writers didn’t mince words: “This is a matter of integrity, legality and protecting the future of our company. Booking must choose. Show dignity or be remembered as the company that profited from one of the greatest crimes of the 21st century.”
Internal battles and corporate censorship
The employee unrest at Booking.com goes back to 2018, but tensions had already escalated dramatically since Hamas’s attack on 7 October 2023.
What’s making tensions worse is that Booking opened an important office in Tel Aviv in 2021. According to sources, the Tel Aviv office is gaining influence, giving pro-Israeli employees a more prominent role within the company.
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Two weeks after the war began, Booking management sent an email to all staff asking them to keep non-work-related messages “to a minimum.”
Since then, Booking has been attempting to manage internal discussions, which many employees perceive as outright censorship. The company’s compliance department now closely monitors Booking’s internal forum Blink and removes posts that violate guidelines.
When profit meets principle
Despite the internal pressure, CEO Glenn Fogel remains unmoved. During a Q&A with employees on 5 September last year, he made his position crystal clear: Booking offers services everywhere the law allows.
“Our mission is to make it easier for everyone to experience the world,” Fogel told his workforce. “We have never said we won’t do business somewhere because we disagree with something.”
The company also took note of Airbnb’s experience. In 2018, Airbnb decided to remove all listings in the West Bank but reversed its decision within six months after legal challenges.
The expat workplace dilemma
As one of the Netherlands’ largest tech employers, Booking.com’s Amsterdam office houses thousands of international workers from across the globe.
For many expats, it has been a reliable employer in a notoriously competitive Dutch job market, especially for those who don’t yet speak Dutch.
The internal protests highlight a broader question for expats working at major Dutch companies: what happens when your employer’s decisions conflict with your personal values, especially when you’re building a life in a new country?
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