Mastercard, Visa, AmEx all pull option to fund terror group-linked NGO
The credit card companies have all blocked donations to Samidoun, which has funneled money to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
By DONNA RACHEL EDMUNDSMembers of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestinian (PFLP) take part in a military show in Gaza City September 2, 2014. (photo credit: REUTERS)
Credit card holders will no longer be able to use them to donate to a North American NGO that is a front for Palestinian terrorism, thanks to lobbying by the International Legal Forum.Mastercard, Visa and American Express have all removed the option to give money to Samidoun, after the Forum presented extensive evidence of Samidoun's ties to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PLFP). The move follows similar action taken earlier this year by Donorbox, Paypal and Plaid, helping to cut funding to the group.Yifa Segal, an attorney with the International Legal Forum, said: "We are pleased with this important advancement in the fight against terrorism and the delegitimization of the State of Israel. Many financial bodies have chosen to close the taps to terrorism financing, and I believe that additional companies will join them. We are determined to continue and eliminate all forms of terrorism financing, open or hidden."A report released by the Ministry of Strategic Affairs and Public Diplomacy in February 2019 – titled "Terrorists in Suits" – listed Samidoun among 13 NGOs worldwide who are acting as fronts for terrorist organizations.It noted that the NGO, which labels itself “the Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network,” is in reality "a leading promoter of BDS." Samidoun, the report continued, "has a wide network of ties with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terrorist organization. A Samidoun activist was trained by Hezbollah in Lebanon as well as delivered funds he received in Syria and Lebanon to PFLP activists in Belgium. It is quite possible that this method of action has occurred more than once."Two activists working for Samidoun in Europe – Mustapha Awad and Mohammed Khatib – both belong to the PLFP.Awad "was in contact with terrorist operatives from Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority," the report noted, while Awad transferred funds to Khaled Barkat, "a Central Committee member of the PFLP and the Solidarity Campaign Coordinator for the release of PFLP General Secretary Ahmad Sa’adat, one of the planners of the assassination of Israeli tourism minister Rehavam Ze’evi."
