{"id":127507,"date":"2025-10-17T07:14:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-17T07:14:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/127507\/"},"modified":"2025-10-17T07:14:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T07:14:08","slug":"garda-will-reconsider-palestinian-mans-allegations-against-airbnb-over-west-bank-properties-court-hears-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/127507\/","title":{"rendered":"Garda will reconsider Palestinian man\u2019s allegations against Airbnb over West Bank properties, court hears \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na<\/a> will reconsider a Palestinian man\u2019s complaint against Airbnb<\/a> alleging Israeli settlers used the website to advertise rental properties built on land stolen from him in the West Bank<\/a>, the High Court has heard.<\/p>\n

The man, who resides in the West Bank, brought judicial review proceedings against the Garda Commissioner<\/a> in July seeking to quash a decision not to investigate his complaint, which claimed Airbnb was \u201can accessory to the crime of transfer, accessory to the crime of appropriation and money laundering\u201d.<\/p>\n

Airbnb\u2019s alleged permitting of the rental of cabins on the man\u2019s land through operations at its Dublin offices constitute crimes, the man claims. <\/p>\n

Airbnb\u2019s Dublin base at Hanover Quay is the firm\u2019s headquarters for its operations in Europe and the Middle East. Airbnb was contacted for comment on the man\u2019s complaints. <\/p>\n

On Thursday, barrister Aoife McMahon, appearing for the man and instructed by KOD Lyons, told Ms Justice Mary Rose Gearty that the commissioner was conceding to certain reliefs sought, and said the complaint will be reconsidered by An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na.<\/p>\n

Remy Farrell SC, for the commissioner, said there was consent to the reliefs. <\/p>\n

Ms Justice Gearty made an order quashing the Garda\u2019s decision not to investigate the man\u2019s complaint. <\/p>\n

An order anonymising the man was previously granted after counsel submitted his identification would place him \u201cin danger from the Israeli authorities\u201d. The man was joined in his legal action by Sadaka, an Irish non-governmental organisation seeking to support the freedom and rights of Palestinians.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0\u2018Groundbreaking\u2019 case over Airbnb lettings in West Bank will set precedent for Irish companies, says SenatorOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Some time after the man\u2019s displacement from his lands, construction activity ensued, and two cabins were erected, according to the documents. <\/p>\n

On account of this, Israeli settlers are \u201cprofiting from the illegal construction of privately owned Palestinian land\u201d without the man\u2019s consent, he claims. <\/p>\n

In August 2023, a complaint was made to the Garda regarding Airbnb\u2019s alleged role in the rental process. <\/p>\n

The complaint alleged Airbnb Ireland UC had committed offences under various Irish laws \u2013 the Geneva Convention Act, the International Criminal Court Act and the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Act. <\/p>\n

The Geneva Convention Act and the International Criminal Court Act give effect in Irish law to the Geneva Conventions and the Rome Statute \u2212 which established the International Criminal Court. Both acts provide for extraterritorial jurisdiction, the man\u2019s case noted.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Room for discussion: Israeli settlements and tourism platforms in the West BankOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

However, the Garda\u2019s National Economic Crime Bureau <\/a>concluded in November 2024 there were no offences \u201cdisclosed within this jurisdiction\u201d, and therefore, a criminal investigation was not warranted. A review of that decision came to the same conclusion. <\/p>\n

In the judicial review proceedings, the man claimed material submitted to garda\u00ed \u201cclearly demonstrates offences which were committed in Ireland\u201d. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na will reconsider a Palestinian man\u2019s complaint against Airbnb alleging Israeli settlers used the website to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":127508,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[783,956,9,10,13,14,6,6220,29801,11,12,15,16,5,7,8,1918,65,66,67],"class_list":{"0":"post-127507","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-airbnb","9":"tag-an-garda-siochana","10":"tag-breaking-news","11":"tag-breakingnews","12":"tag-featured-news","13":"tag-featurednews","14":"tag-headlines","15":"tag-israel-defence-forces","16":"tag-justin-kelly","17":"tag-latest-news","18":"tag-latestnews","19":"tag-main-news","20":"tag-mainnews","21":"tag-news","22":"tag-top-stories","23":"tag-topstories","24":"tag-west-bank","25":"tag-world","26":"tag-world-news","27":"tag-worldnews"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127507","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=127507"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127507\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/127508"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=127507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=127507"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=127507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}