'Post' inquiry leads to closure of French BDS terrorism group's PayPal
French organization lists Palestinian terrorist entity as partner, glorifies Leila Khaled.
By BENJAMIN WEINTHAL‘INSTEAD OF fighting the Israeli army on the battlefield or killing civilians through acts of terrorism, the BDS movement seeks to destroy Israel’s image in the eyes of the world.’(photo credit: REUTERS)
The giant American online payment service PayPal closed the account of the pro-BDS French organization Collectif Palestine Vaincra because of its ties to the US and EU sanctioned terrorist organization the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), The Jerusalem Post learned on Wednesday.The PayPal notice on the website of Collectif Palestine Vaincra reads: “This recipient cannot receive money at this time.” After a notice that funds can no longer be transferred, the account is typically shut down.On Tuesday, the Post verified that donors could still continue to donate money via PayPal to Collectif Palestine Vaincra. When asked about the account, a PayPal spokesperson told the Post that “We’re unfortunately unable to comment on any specific accounts, but our team will review and take appropriate action as needed.”PayPal has a robust enforcement policy of cracking down on organizations that raise funds for terrorism or the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement (BDS) campaign targeting the Jewish state. Under France’s anti-discrimination law, the advocacy of BDS against Israel or Israelis is defined as bias based on national origin.Collectif Palestine Vaincra lists the PFLP as one of its partners on its website and declared the convicted PFLP terrorist Leila Khaled a “Member of Honor.” Khaled lives in Jordan.Khaled was a key member of the terrorist cell that hijacked TWA Flight 840 in 1969. A year later, she participated in the attempted hijacking of EL AL Flight 219.The PFLP has recently developed a stronger alliance with the Islamic Republic of Iran. The US classifies Iran’s regime as the worst state-sponsor of international terrorism.The Collectif Palestine Vaincra appears to be in violation of both France’s anti-terrorism and anti-discrimination laws. The Post sent numerous press queries to Collectif Palestine Vaincra. The organization’s twitter account states it is based in Toulouse. 1,235 people follow the BDS entity on twitter as of Wednesday.The Post investigative series into BDS organizations and their funding streams has led to the closure of over 20 bank and online payment accounts since 2016.The account closures of the BDS entities have spanned Ireland, Germany, Austria, the US and France.