EXCLUSIVE — A coalition of 11 pro-Israel groups across the world is demanding that the major payment processor Stripe stop handling donations for a nonprofit group the Washington Examiner reported is linked to Palestinian terrorism.
The Arizona-based charity Alliance for Global Justice, whose ties to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine terror group have resulted in calls from watchdogs for federal investigations, is still able to fundraise through Stripe despite the software company Salsa Labs dropping it, financial records show. Now, Stripe is being pressed by various pro-Israel entities in Spain, Canada, and the United States to review its policies and not handle contributions “that risk funding foreign terror organizations,” according to a letter on Wednesday.
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“In light of the clear and detailed evidence presented to Stripe, it is obvious that their apparent inaction is not consistent with their legal and ethical obligations,” President Marc Greendorfer of Zachor Legal Institute, a think tank fighting antisemitism that led the letter to Stripe co-founders John Collison and Patrick Collison, told the Washington Examiner. “We welcome any questions they have about our work.”
The written request for action to Stripe is the latest escalation of efforts by groups to cripple financially Alliance for Global Justice, which Zachor Legal Institute and other watchdogs, including the National Legal and Policy Center, have said appears to be providing material support to terrorism in violation of federal law. Stripe began processing donations for the alliance after Salsa Labs stopped handling its credit card transactions in February, which were done by a contractor called CardConnect.
Congressional Republicans, including House Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik (R-NY), Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY), and Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), have also urged Stripe and any other American companies not to provide services to Palestinian terror or antisemitic advocacy groups. The alliance has fundraised for Collectif Palestine Vaincra, a member of an Israeli-designated terror coalition called Samidoun that the Arizona charity has also fiscally sponsored, records show.
Collectif Palestine Vaincra has coordinated in the past with the PFLP for a child “indoctrination” camp in the Gaza Strip, according to NGO Monitor, an Israeli watchdog group that signed the Zachor letter. On the other hand, the PFLP and Samidoun have shared staffers, while Samidoun “runs campaigns that support and/or glorify convicted terrorists and the PFLP campaign website uses elements identical to those on the Samidoun website,” according to Zachor.
In the coalition letter, the pro-Israel groups pointed to how Samidoun co-founder Khaled Barakat has been dubbed by the PFLP as one of its “leaders.” Mohammad Khatib, a Europe Samidoun coordinator, has purportedly been referred to as a PFLP leader in Palestinian media outlets, the pro-Israel groups said. Moreover, Samidoun’s Europe representative, Mustapha Awad, “was imprisoned in Israel after he was sent by the PFLP to Lebanon, where he underwent military training by Hezbollah,” the letter noted.
“In light of the above, it is clear that Samidoun is a related party to the PFLP,” the pro-Israel groups wrote to Stripe. “Furthermore, based on our research, we believe that donations made to Samidoun through AfGJ’s platform have provided support to designated terror organizations and specific terrorist activities throughout the world. Therefore, as Samidoun’s fiscal sponsor, AfGJ appears to be providing material support to terrorism in violation of federal laws and in violation of the criminal and civil provisions of the United States’ Anti-Terrorism Act.”
The letter cited how, in the past, several payment processors, including Discover and PayPal, blocked Samidoun and AfGJ from using their services following an outcry over the nonprofit group’s ties to terror. Stripe, which processed $817 billion in transactions in 2022, says in its terms and conditions that the company doesn’t work alongside any entity that “engages in, encourages, promotes, or celebrates unlawful violence or physical harm to persons or property” or “any group based on race, religion, disability, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, or any other immutable characteristic,” documents show.
Beyond Zachor and NGO Monitor, signatories of the request included the American Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists, Belgian Friends of Israel, B’nai Brith Canada, Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs in Canada, the U.S. Lawfare Project, Med Israel for Fred in Norway, Denmark, Sweden, and Iceland, as well as the United Kingdom’s National Jewish Assembly, and StandWithUs.
The alliance, which calls itself an “anti-capitalist” and “progressive” charity, has also appeared to sponsor the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions against Israel coalition, the Washington Examiner reported. This is because the BDS coalition was previously unable to fundraise after Salsa Labs cut ties with the alliance.
Zachor said it has been in contact with the IRS and Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control about Stripe’s donation processing for the alliance.
“The issue of funding for Samidoun and other Palestinian terror-linked NGOs goes beyond Stripe,” NGO Monitor President Gerald Steinberg told the Washington Examiner. “Authorities in Canada, Germany, and Belgium are watching developments in the U.S. carefully.”
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The AfGJ and Stripe did not reply to requests for comment.
“Since 9/11, financial institutions in the West have been committed to stopping the flow of funds to terrorist organizations,” Robert Garson, president of the American Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists, told the Washington Examiner. “We call upon Stripe to turn off the spigot to the AfGJ, which sponsors those committed to killing Israeli civilians.”
