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Just Giving deletes pages raising cash for charity accused of having Hamas links
The fundraising platform has removed more than a dozen pages
February 18, 2019 15:55
The fundraising platform has removed more than a dozen pages
February 18, 2019 15:55Donation requests on behalf of a charity accused of having links to Hamas have been removed from fundraising platform Just Giving.
The platform deleted more than a dozen pages requesting cash for Interpal after UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) wrote to the website pointing out that the charity is designated as a foreign terrorist organisation by the US.
Just Giving closed Interpal’s account in 2009; however UKLFI noted that several crowdfunding pages, on which individuals were raising money on behalf of the charity, had not been shut down and were still actively fundraising.
Caroline Turner, director of UKLFI commented: “We are pleased that Just Giving acted so swiftly in removing the pages which breached the US and Australian anti-terror regulations.”
The pages, which have now been taken down, included one featuring Mohammed Mohsin Rehmani’s half marathon, which raised £1257,85 for the charity.
Another page, Arif Ismail’s “Gaza Runners”, raised £8,095 for Interpal, while Muhammed Ibrahim’s entry raised £703.50 and Islam Bradford’s page raised £2,070.
The charity was classed as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) group by the US in 2003. It is also listed as a terrorism financing entity in Canada.
Just Giving’s decision comes after the donations section on Interpal’s website was frozen by credit card companies in October.
BT’s not-for-profit online fundraising service for UK charities also withdrew its funding platform service from the group in July 2018.
Interpal, which is regulated by the Charities Commission and operates in the UK legally, describes itself as “non-political” and working to support the most vulnerable.
It states: “We exist to empower Palestinians to face their challenges and hardships in our principal areas of operation: the West Bank, Gaza Strip and the refugee camps in Jordan and Lebanon.”
The charity said: “Interpal is a legitimate, fully registered and regulated British charity that is indeed working to have its completely unfounded designation lifted.
"Having old, inactive volunteers’ fundraising pages that were mistakenly left up now removed by the platform is a non-story and is not of note. What is of note, however, is that this pathetic attempt at making it a story is part of a wider, ongoing campaign by UKLFI to attack, delegitimise and undermine the humanitarian work of Interpal and many other charities for Palestinians."
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