IPFS

BDS Fundraising Account Blocked

Written by Subject: Israel - Palestine

BDS Fundraising Account Blocked

by Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org - Home - Stephen Lendman)

Global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) activism is all about seeking freedom, equity and justice for long-suffering Palestinians.

It champions "the principle that (they're) entitled to the same rights as the rest of humanity" - denied them by US-supported Israeli ruthlessness.

The global initiative is the single most effective campaign against its criminal activities - spreading the word, achieving important results, why US and Israeli hardliners want its efforts undermined.

A zealously Zionist organization called Shurat HaDin, the Israel Law Center, operates in cahoots with Israeli intelligence, ruling regime hardliners, and Israel's Strategic Affairs Ministry. 

Using unscrupulous tactics against Israeli critics, it's involved in undermining legal principles it claims to support, endorsing what demands condemnation - filing politically motivated lawsuits and other legal actions against legitimate Israeli critics, supporting what demands condemnation.

In response to a spurious complaint it lodged against the BDS campaign's fundraising account, the Donorbox fundraising management software firm temporarily blocked it.

The BDS movement called the unprincipled move an Israeli "McCarthyite" tactic. An unacceptable Donorbox statement said its move "does not mean that we consider BDS to be a nefarious organization," adding: 

We are merely reviewing evidence following this complaint. Their donation forms were closed as a precautionary measure."

According to the phony complaint Donorbox should have rejected straightaway with minimal or no comment, BDS membership includes the Council of National and Islamic Forces in Palestine, an umbrella group, representing all major Palestinian political factions.

Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine are also members - falsely called terrorists organizations by the US State Department in deference to Israel.

Shurat HaDin's head Nitsana Darshan-Leitner turned truth on its head, calling Palestinian groups legitimately resisting Israeli tyranny "terrorist organizations," vowing to go all-out to prevent them and their supporters from raising money.

I've been a proud cultural member for years. As an American Jew, I'm banned from entering Israel for supporting BDS, along with standing in solidarity with millions of persecuted Palestinians, and expressing strong opposition to Israeli ruthlessness.

My banishment is a badge of honor for standing with right over wrong, for supporting fundamental Palestinian rights over longstanding unaccountable Israeli apartheid barbarism.

I'm in good company with notable groups Israel banned from entering the country - including members of Jewish Voice for Peace, the American Friends Service Committee, CodePink, and the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights, among others.

BDS activism has nothing to do with wanting Israel delegitimized or destroyed, as Jewish state critics and supporters falsely claim.

It's all about "challenging…Israeli apartheid and settler-colonialism." It persists because of US-led international political and corporate support.

Boycotts are all about "withdrawing support for Israel and Israeli and international companies that are involved in the violation of Palestinian human rights, as well as complicit Israeli sporting, cultural and academic institutions."

Divestment is all about "urg(ing) banks, local councils, churches, pension funds and universities to withdraw investments from all Israeli companies and from international companies involved in violating Palestinian rights."

Sanctions are all about "pressur(ing) governments to fulfill their legal obligation to hold Israel to account including by ending military trade, free-trade agreements and expelling Israel from international forums such as the UN and FIFA."

The longstanding Palestinian struggle for freedom, equity, and justice persists. It won't end until these objectives are achieved.

A Final Comment

In response to Donorbox's complicity with Shurat HaDin's unacceptable action against the BDS campaign's fundraising account, Palestine Legal's director Dima Khalidi issued the following statement, saying:

"The accusations from Shurat HaDin are false and based on flimsy legal theories. Shurat HaDin are themselves engaging in unlawful interference with the BNC's peaceful grassroots advocacy to achieve freedom and equality for Palestinians. We call on Donorbox to complete its investigation rapidly and reinstate BNCs account."

Legal director for the Center for Constitutional Rights Maria LaHood said the following:

The actions by Shurat HaDin and Donorbox reflect "one more example of a widespread effort to punish Palestinian existence and thwart advocacy for Palestinian rights. These baseless threats to intimidate and chill the growing movement for Palestinian freedom will only strengthen it."

BDS co-founder Omar Barghouti issued a statement, saying Shurat HaDin "ma(de) categorically false allegations, threatening and bullying our partners and service providers in a desperate attempt to undermine our ability to challenge Israel's regime of apartheid and oppression."

VISIT MY NEW WEB SITE: stephenlendman.org (Home - Stephen Lendman). Contact at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

My newest book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III."

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html

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