LONDON/ISTANBUL

Palestinian-American entrepreneur and art curator Faisal Saleh has alleged that efforts to lease space in the building that housed Israel’s former embassy in Dublin for a branch of the Palestinian Museum US are being deliberately obstructed.

Saleh, who founded the Palestine Museum US in Connecticut in 2018 to showcase Palestinian art and highlight Palestinian struggles, launched the initiative following Israel’s announcement on Dec. 15, 2024, that it would shut down its embassy in Dublin.

“When we learned that the Israeli Embassy was moving out, we were very interested in exploring the idea of locating a branch for the museum in the building. We thought that would be a symbolic move,” Saleh told Anadolu.

“It will show that using beauty can help replace ugliness and all the awful things that genocide entails. Israel really represented genocide, and the museum represents contemporary art, and the art is beauty, and the beauty really deserves to replace the genocide presence,” he added.

Since launching the initiative on Dec. 18, 2024, Saleh and his team have publicized their intentions widely, including reaching out to a local Irish newspaper, which garnered significant international attention.

Despite efforts to secure a lease through phone calls and discussions with real estate agents, Saleh stated that they have not received a clear response regarding available rental space in the building.

Challenges in leasing process

According to Saleh, a tenant representation firm specializing in lease negotiations declined to assist them, stating: “They really don't want to get involved,” and instead advised them to contact the building’s management directly.

Further inquiries revealed that the building’s ownership entity had gone bankrupt, and a court-appointed trustee — identified as the accounting firm Interpath — was now handling rental procedures and financial matters.

Saleh explained that after initial phone calls were unsuccessful, communication shifted to email exchanges. Eventually, they were informed that a Dublin-based commercial real estate firm, Bannon, was responsible for managing the property’s leasing process.

In a conversation with a Bannon representative, Saleh was told that both “Bannon” and “Interpath” were working together to “develop a strategy” for the building’s future but provided no further details. Follow-up inquiries yielded the same response.

“So we had talked to two tenant representative firms who refused to represent us, and basically did not want to get involved at all. And the people in charge of the building, the receiver firm, and the appointed commercial real estate broker that represents them in leasing the building have basically given us the runaround.”

“Every time we contact them, they say they're still strategizing, and we don't know what they mean by ‘strategizing,’ and all we're asking is, do you have a building you're responsible for leasing? Are there any vacant spaces in the building? I mean, that does not need a lot of strategy here. They can just tell us, well, we have no space, or there are two spaces, or there are three spaces, whatever. That's the simple question we're asking. We're not even getting that far.”

Allegations of pro-Israel influence

Saleh suggested that influential figures within the commercial real estate sector may be discouraging firms from representing them, and that those involved in leasing the building may be under pressure to avoid working with them.

“We are a nonprofit US corporation, and we are trying to inquire about space in a building in Dublin, Ireland. I don't see what the big deal is. So whatever that powerful entity is probably an Israel supporter and is trying to prevent a situation where us renting space in the building could be embarrassing for Israel, and they're trying to protect Israel's reputation, or Israel's position by keeping us out and not giving us any information and not being forthcoming with information about the building, and it's been over a month and we haven't heard the result of their strategizing.”

“And so we believe we have really nothing to go on, so nothing but to kind of try to make conclusions or assumptions that the people in charge of the building don't want a Palestinian presence in the building, and they could be pro-Israel and trying to protect Israel's reputation or Israel's view, and in the public in Ireland, or whatever reason that being Israel supporters, and as a result of that, they are discriminating against us and not giving us any information.”

Saleh urged the Irish public and Palestinian solidarity groups to put pressure on the building’s management to engage with them fairly and transparently.

He emphasized that if their efforts were unsuccessful, they had no alternative plans in Dublin but remained determined to pursue the project.

“We're still hopeful that we will be able to get some sort of a space in the building and create a Palestinian presence in the building, but that may take a lot of work and may take some time, and we're hoping that that would happen sooner than later.”

Real estate firms decline to provide clear answers

In response to these developments, Anadolu reached out to both Bannon and Interpath for clarification on the building’s rental status and the claims regarding the Palestine Museum initiative.

When asked whether there was available space and whether rental applications were being assessed equally, the two firms issued a joint statement:

“At this early stage in the receivership process, the Joint Receivers are still developing their strategy in respect of the unit and as such, are not in a position to deal with any party. If things change, we will let the relevant parties know.”

Further inquiries about the lack of information on available space were met with a statement that no additional details could be provided at that time.

While no specifics were given regarding the building’s current status or transparency in the leasing process, the firms did not comment on the allegations of obstruction against the Palestine Museum initiative.

Additionally, Anadolu contacted the Irish Foreign Ministry regarding claims that Ireland was preventing the lease in anticipation of reopening the Israeli Embassy. However, no response has been received yet.

Closure of Israel’s Embassy in Ireland

On May 28, 2024, Ireland officially recognized the State of Palestine and later joined a genocide case filed against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

Following this, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar announced on Dec. 15 that Israel would close its Dublin embassy, accusing Ireland of “crossing all red lines.”

Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris dismissed the closure as “distraction diplomacy,” while Deputy Prime Minister Micheal Martin clarified that Ireland had no plans to shut down its embassy in Tel Aviv.