LONDON
Palestinian-American entrepreneur and art curator Faisal Saleh said after Israel decided to close its embassy in Dublin, he began efforts to lease the building and convert it into a Palestinian museum.
"This will be a very powerful symbolic move where Palestinian art replaces the genocidal entity representation in Ireland," Saleh told Anadolu.
Saleh, the founder and director of the Palestine Museum US in Connecticut, spoke with Anadolu about his family's forced displacement following the Nakba in 1948, the museum's establishment in the US, and his initiative to convert Israel's former embassy in Dublin into a museum.
Born in 1951 in the West Bank city of Al-Bireh to a Palestinian refugee family originally from the village of Salamah, east of Jaffa, Saleh said they were forcibly displaced to Al-Bireh following the Nakba in 1948.
Saleh, who grew up in the West Bank and moved to the US for education in 1969, decided after a long professional career to focus on contributing to the Palestine cause.
After focusing on this concept, he founded the first Palestine Museum in the Western Hemisphere in 2018, saying the museum's mission is to share the injustices and challenges faced by Palestinians with the world through art.
He emphasized that rather than engaging in political debates, he intends to use art as a medium to tell the story of Palestinians and their history and that the museum, which has been open for six and a half years, aims to raise international awareness of Palestinian culture.
Opportunity following embassy closure
When Israel announced the closure of its embassy in Dublin, Saleh saw it as an opportunity to promote Palestinian art and replace Israel's representation with a Palestinian one.
"This will be a very powerful symbolic move where Palestinian art is replacing the genocidal entity representation in Ireland. So to replace evil with beauty was a very important consideration for us in deciding to explore the possibility of doing that," he said.
He immediately began researching the building's ownership as well as other details about the embassy's closure. He contacted journalists to gather information, ultimately learning about the space's possibilities.
Global support for initiative
Saleh noted that the idea of converting the embassy into a Palestine Museum received widespread attention after the news was published, with people from around the world expressing their strong support.
Claims that the Irish government would turn the embassy into a museum or open it soon were false, he clarified.
"We're still in the very early stages of evaluation, but we are very determined to proceed with this project," he said.
He added that he is now working with a prominent real estate agent in Dublin to explore whether the building can be leased for the museum.
Saleh emphasized that while they have not yet taken concrete steps, they are determined to move forward with the project.
"We are receiving a tremendous amount of support from the Irish people, Irish organizations, and the solidarity organizations in Ireland, and also we're receiving support from a large number of people outside of Ireland, from throughout the world; they're all pushing for us to go ahead and try to put a Palestinian flag and the Palestinian museum in that building," he said.
Plans beyond Dublin
Saleh emphasized that this initiative will not be limited to Dublin. He highlighted the importance of creating permanent venues to showcase Palestinian art globally, citing exhibitions held in Venice, Italy, and upcoming initiatives in the UK and Ireland.
"If we're successful in creating a Palestinian museum at that location, you know that will open the door for us to use that precedent to create other situations," he said.
He also sees the potential to establish Palestinian art organizations across Europe and other regions.
Lauding Ireland’s support for Palestine, he said, "Ireland will always be in our hearts as a country that stood by us at a time when it was not very fashionable to be standing with Palestine."
He praised Ireland for its principled stance, despite international pressure to support Israel, calling it one of the most valuable positions a country could take.
Israel's embassy closure in Ireland
On May 28, 2024, Ireland officially recognized the State of Palestine and later intervened in a genocide lawsuit filed against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
In response, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar announced on Dec. 15 that Israel would close its embassy in Dublin, accusing Ireland of crossing all red lines.
Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris described the closure decision as "distraction diplomacy," while Deputy Prime Minister Micheal Martin clarified that Ireland had no plans to close its embassy in Tel Aviv.
*Writing by Alperen Aktas in Istanbul
