High Court action launched challenging refusal of Gardaí to investigate Airbnb Ireland and its senior executives for alleged criminal involvement in Israeli settlements

• Related actions taken in the US, UK and Ireland concerning alleged money laundering by Airbnb of proceeds of Israeli war crimes;
• Airbnb also subject of complaint in Ireland under OECD Guidelines for Responsible Business Conduct;
• Cases highlight importance of including a ban on services in the Occupied Territories Bill.
• Press conference will be held on 10 June at 9.45 am (IST) in Dublin and online; details below.

Tuesday 10 June, the Global Legal Action Network (GLAN), Sadaka – the Ireland Palestine Alliance and the Palestinian human rights organisation, Al-Haq, announce the launch of unprecedented trans-Atlantic set of legal actions targeting Airbnb’s listing in Israel’s illegal settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Palestinian refugee properties appropriated during the Nakba.

This will include the first ever case to raise alleged complicity in war crimes in an Irish court. The legal actions target Airbnb’s Irish and UK subsidiaries, as well as its US parent company and highlight the major legal risks faced by companies and their senior executives doing business in the Israeli settlements.

In November 2018, Airbnb promised to “act responsibly” and remove listings in the illegal settlements but reversed this decision in April 2019. Today there are well over 300 accommodations listed there.

The acts of land appropriation, displacement and transfer of civilian population into occupied territory that facilitate the Israeli settlements are defined as war crimes and crimes against humanity under both international law and related Irish legislation. It is an offence under Irish anti-money laundering laws to handle money or other property derived from such criminal acts.

In August 2023, Sadaka and GLAN filed a criminal complaint against Airbnb’s Irish subsidiary and its senior executives with the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau (GNECB). The complaint alleged complicity in the war crimes underpinning the Israeli settlements and related money laundering offences in connection with “Airbnb Ireland’s” role in listing accommodation in the settlements. In November 2024, the GNECB declined to open an investigation, stating that the complaint disclosed no offence within the jurisdiction of Ireland. In response, on 9 May, Sadaka filed judicial review proceedings in the High Court, claiming the Gardaí made an error in law and acted irrationally in reaching this decision. If successful, it will clarify how this area of law applies and require the Gardaí to remake their decision on Airbnb accordingly.

Shawan Jabarin, General Director of Al-Haq: “At a time when we are witnessing genocide in Palestine, businesses like Airbnb are providing services that deny the Palestinian people their means of subsistence, threatening the viability of the group. Following the finding by the International Court of Justice, that Israel’s occupation is illegal, business activities trading in goods and services that maintain the illegal occupation, must come to an end –– i.e., those located in the OPT, including the settlements, and in Israel. It is time to end Israel’s impunity and take action.”

GLAN Senior Lawyer, Gerry Liston: “These are the first ever cases to apply anti-money laundering legislation to business activity in the illegal Israeli settlements. They demonstrate that senior executives of companies profiting from Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory face a personal risk of prosecution for a very serious criminal offence.

Éamonn Meehan, Chair of Sadaka: “These cases make clear why the Government’s new Occupied Territories Bill must ban services linked to the Israeli settlements. In fact, by doing so, the government would be doing companies like Airbnb a favour, given the sanctions they could otherwise face if found guilty of complicity in war crimes.”

GLAN has also written to Airbnb’s solicitors (A&L Goodbody), accountants (PWC) and bank (Citibank in Dublin) informing them of the relevance of Airbnb’s activities in the Israeli settlements to their anti-money laundering obligations, which require them to report instances of suspected money laundering to the authorities.

In a separate Irish action, both GLAN and the Palestinian human rights organisation Al-Haq have submitted a joint complaint against Airbnb to the Irish National Contact Point (NCP) under the OECD Guidelines on Responsible Business Conduct. The complaint highlights that crimes against Palestinian property are broader than the settlements and traverse both sides of the Green Line. All activities including the provision of services, which maintain the apartheid regime, and illegal occupation, in addition to the settlement enterprise, must be brought to an end. The complaint requests that Airbnb delist all listings in the settlements, and all listings of unlawfully appropriated Palestinian refugee property in historic Palestine, which continue to be exploited in continuing acts of apartheid.

The actions are being launched as the Irish government prepares to introduce a bill to replace the Occupied Territories Bill. Recently, the government signalled its intention to exclude from its new bill a ban services – such as those provided by Airbnb – linked to the Israeli settlements.

PLEASE NOTE: The above-mentioned cases concern the potential criminal liability of companies and individuals within them and therefore the caution applied to reporting on criminal trials should apply to these cases too. These companies/individuals enjoy the presumption of innocence and nothing in this press release should be taken as implying otherwise.
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Notes to editors:
Multi-jurisdictional actions targeting Airbnb

In addition to the action in Ireland, GLAN and Al-Haq have lodged a criminal complaint with the UK’s National Crime Agency against a UK-registered subsidiary of Airbnb, alleging money laundering in connection with its collection of payments for accommodation in the Israeli settlements.

In the US, an attorney for GLAN has sent a ‘preservation letter’ to Airbnb’s parent company, instructing it to preserve documents relevant to Airbnb’s involvement in the settlements. This is the first step in proceedings under the US ‘Foreign Legal Assistance’ statute seeking discovery of documents that may support the Irish and UK actions.

In the Netherlands, a similar case led by the European Legal Support Center (ELSC) has also been brought against Booking.com, which like Airbnb lists properties in the illegal Israeli settlements. ELSC join GLAN and Al-Haq at the press conference in Dublin to echo the call for urgent legislation from governments around the world to comply with international law, support Palestinian rights and protect businesses from legal risk.

The actions follow the July 2024 ruling by the International Court of Justice that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory is illegal, and that all States must prevent trade or investment that supports the occupation.

Al-Haq is an independent Palestinian non-governmental human rights organisation based in Ramallah, occupied West Bank. It was established in 1979 to protect and promote human rights and the rule of law in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Al-Haq documents violations of the individual and collective rights of Palestinians in the OPT and in doing so it conducts research; prepares reports, studies and interventions on breaches of international human rights and humanitarian law in the OPT; and undertakes advocacy before local, regional and international bodies.

Contact Zainah [email protected] more at alhaq.org  

Global Legal Action Network (GLAN) is a U.K. based legal non-profit organisation with offices in the U.K. and Ireland. GLAN works with affected communities to pursue innovative legal actions across borders to challenge powerful actors involved in human rights violations and systemic injustice.

Contact Joey Greene [email protected] or Abbi Casey [email protected]  and for more info about GLAN visit www.glanlaw.org  

Sadaka - the Ireland Palestine Alliance is an Irish independent non-governmental and non-party-political organisation committed to the achievement of political and human rights for the Palestinian people. Our work is framed within the context of international law and is aimed at achieving changes in Ireland’s domestic and foreign policies which advance the self-determination and fundamental rights of the Palestinian people.