Paypal halts services for UK charity with alleged ties to terrorism

The termination of Paypal's service for War on Want means that people who choose to donate to the organization can no longer do so through PayPal.

By YVETTE J. DEANE
Updated: OCTOBER 23, 2018 16:47
The PayPal app logo seen on a mobile phone in this illustration photo (photo credit: REUTERS)
The PayPal app logo seen on a mobile phone in this illustration photo
(photo credit: REUTERS)
PayPal stopped providing services to War on Want, a UN NGO, after UK Lawyers for Israel, a pro-Israel consortium of lawyers, provided evidence to PayPal claiming to show that the charity had ties with terrorist organizations.
UK Lawyers for Israel and The Lawfare Project, an organization that provides legal services to fight antisemitism, had attacked War on Want before for the organization's supposed links to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). They filed a complaint to the Charity Commission alleging misuse of charitable funds "for the production and dissemination of political propaganda and its publication of false and misleading allegations likely to result in racial hatred of Jews and Israel," UK Lawyers for Israel wrote on their website.
“I am pleased that PayPal has responded to the evidence it has now seen regarding War on Want’s association with groups linked to terrorism, and has ceased to assist War on Want in obtaining donations," Caroline Turner, director of UK Lawyers for Israel said. "I hope that the Charity Commission will now look carefully at War on Want’s activities and associations.”
PayPal also recently stopped providing services to International Alliance, a German charity that also has alleged links to the PFLP.
While many German banks have terminated accounts with organizations that boycott Israel or support Palestinian terror organizations such as Hamas and the PFLP, PayPal’s closure of International Alliance is believed to be the first shut down of an online payment service account in Germany for a group involved in BDS and with links to PFLP supporters.
War on Want describes its mission as fighting "poverty and human rights violation, as part of the worldwide movement for global justice," according to its website.
The PFLP is considered a terrorist group by the United States, Japan, Canada, Australia and the European Union.
Two members of the PFLP murdered five men in a November 2014 attack on a synagogue in Jerusalem’s Har Nof neighborhood.
Paypal and War on Want have not yet responded to requests for comments. 
Benjamin Weinthal contributed to this article.