US fundraising site blocks BDS account after Israel advocacy group’s complaints

A US software company has blocked the fundraising account of the Palestinian-led boycott movement following a complaint by a pro-Israel advocacy group, reported the Associated Press.

The Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) Movement denounced the move as “McCarthyite”.

According to the report, Donorbox, “which makes fundraising management software”, confirmed that the BDS campaign’s account was temporarily blocked while it investigates allegations made by Shurat HaDin, an organisation that specialises in legal attacks on Palestine solidarity campaigning.

AP said that the complaint was “submitted in coordination with Israel’s Strategic Affairs Ministry”.

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“This decision does not mean that we consider BDS to be a nefarious organisation. We are merely reviewing evidence following this complaint. Their donation forms were closed as a precautionary measure,” Donorbox said in a statement.

Shurat HaDin’s complaint alleged that the BDS movement is linked to “groups…branded as terrorist organisations by the US”. Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Gilad Erdan called the decision “a significant achievement in our efforts to counter the discriminatory BDS campaign”.

Omar Barghouti, a founder of the BDS movement, called Shurat HaDin a “repressive organisation with clear connections to the far-right Israeli government” that is “engaging in McCarthyite…tactics”.

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“They are making 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,” he told AP.

“While this legal repression may temporarily burden us, it has failed to deter us from continuing our peaceful anti-racist and inclusive struggle for freedom, justice and equality.”