Osama Qashoo lifts a giant wooden key – the traditional symbol of exiled Palestinians – in the atrium of the building

A FIVE-STOREY centre celebrating Palestinian culture could be opened if enough money is raised.

Taking over from a former language school in High Holborn, Palestine House will be a cultural centre and co-working space for humanitarian organising.

Documentary-maker and activist Osama Qashoo, who moved from Palestine to the United Kingdom when he was 17 to study film-making, is spearheading the project.

He said: “Palestine House is the birth of a dream I had some 17 years ago as a young refugee when I was feeling lonely and sought refuge from the world. Palestine House is a place which I’ve always felt was missing.

“I want Palestine House to be a place where we can accumulate all of this pain and sorrow and convert it into strength and beauty. This house is for everyone, everyone is welcome at Palestine House.”

Renovations are currently under way on the space which sits above a Palestinian restaurant, Hiba Express.

The interiors are being redesigned using specialist building techniques to give a feeling of a traditional Palestinian interior, with colourful tiles, lattice skylights, and exposed stone walls and wooden beams.

A giant wooden key – traditionally the symbol of exiled Palestinians – has been suspended above the atrium. Two out of the five floors are now complete and partially operational. It will take a further six to eight months to finish the works on site.

A crowdfunding campaign has been launched to raise the £300,000 required to support the development and completion of the remaining three floors.

Alexandra Lort Phillips, development manager for Palestine House, said: “This amazing project hasn’t come from any official agencies or government organisations.

“It is being set up by people for people.”

Osama Qashoo added: “In my journeys around the world, I met people from Cuba, Jamaica and Ireland who were nicknamed ‘Palestinos’.

“I was told that many communities that are persecuted, marginalised and discriminated against use Palestine as their symbol, as their flag of resilience and strength.

“So, Palestine House is for everyone, a place not just for Palestinians, but for all those people from lands where they have been made into refugees and seek a sense of belonging.”