Arutz Sheva sat down for a talk at the conference of the Israeli American Council with Bal Harbour, Florida Mayor Gabriel Groisman, a leading activist against the BDS movement.

Groisman discussed Airbnb’s recent decision to boycott Jewish-owned homes in Judea and Samaria, noting that the move shows how far the BDS movement has come in its ability to influence major companies like Airbnb. At the same time, he noted, the move created an “opportunity” to take action, due to its “plain discrimination” in violation not only of “BDS laws,” but also of “plain civil rights laws around the United States.”

Groisman emphasized that both statements made by political leaders and legal action help make a difference in fighting the Airbnb decision. On the one hand, “statements coming out of governors’ and attorney generals’ offices” questioning whether their states would invest their pension funds in Airbnb are effective in pressing the company to question whether its actions were worthwhile. On the other hand, he said that “lawsuits are very important, as well.”

“These laws are on the books for a reason. It’s not often that you see corporate anti-Semitism like this, and this is an opportunity to put the laws to the test and to create precedent so that other companies know not to get swayed by these BDS activists.”