EXCLUSIVE — The behemoth financial services company Stripe has resumed processing payments for a fundraiser benefiting an Israeli-designated terror group after launching an internal investigation, records show.
Emails obtained by the Washington Examiner confirm Stripe temporarily paused working with the Spanish Bizilur Association for Cooperation and Development of Peoples for its "#StopGazaStarvation Gaza Relief Campaign" with the Union of Agricultural Work Committees, which Israel identified in 2021 as an "arm" of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a U.S.-designated terror faction. However, Stripe began allowing its platform on Tuesday to be used again for the Gaza fundraiser, despite PayPal quietly cutting ties last week with the initiative after a watchdog raised concerns that companies linked to it could be violating federal law.
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"We believe that Stripe has not engaged in a robust review of applicable laws and the nature of the campaign using its services," Marc Greendorfer, president of the pro-Israel Zachor Legal Institute think tank, told the Washington Examiner. "In light of this, we will ensure that all who have been harmed by Palestinian-Arab terror organizations are apprised of their rights to seek damages from those who aided and abetted the attacks."
Greendorfer added, "We believe that under applicable U.S. anti-terror laws, Stripe’s provision of services to the campaign organizers, even after it was informed of the campaign organizers' terror affiliations, constitutes aiding and abetting of foreign terror."
Stripe's apparent move not to take action against Bizilur's fundraiser comes after those behind the pro-Palestinian initiative began instructing the public it could not pocket funds through the Irish-American payment processor "because of technical issues," emails show. The Oct. 7 Hamas-led terror attacks against Israel, which killed more than 1,200 people in the Jewish state, have placed heightened pressure on companies not to associate, even indirectly, with Hamas or other terror factions.
Donations to the Gaza fundraiser "will be sent directly to Palestine, where UAWC is made up of a network of more than 50 local peasant committees in both Gaza and the West Bank," Bizilur, which says it opposes "neoliberal, imperialist and heteropatriarchal" systems, disclosed on its website recently. Bizilur also appears to be using a bank account through the Spanish company Laboral Kutxa to accept wire transfers, fundraising records show.
UAWC is the "agricultural organization" of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine terror group, according to a 1993 report prepared by Middle East expert Glenn Robinson for the U.S. Agency for International Development. Visa, Mastercard, and American Express prohibited UAWC in 2018 from using their services over its PFLP ties, according to the Israeli watchdog group NGO Monitor, which says UAWC has also been identified as a PFLP "affiliate" by the Palestinian Fatah organization.
In 2019, UAWC staffers Samer Arbid and Abdul Razeq Farraj faced charges for their involvement in both a West Bank-based PFLP terror cell and a roadside bombing that killed Israeli teenager Rina Shnerb, according to multiple reports. Ex-President of the UAWC Board of Trustees Bashir al Khairi formerly led the PFLP's political bureau.
"The more we learn about the international network financing terror groups, and the chronic misuse of payment processing technology that is enabling it, the more it is clear the status quo is unsustainable," Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), who sits on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told the Washington Examiner. "Congress is watching closely."
An unnamed Bizilur staffer said on Monday, "Payment through Stripe is no longer available because of technical issues, but we are moving it to Google Pay and Apple Pay," according to emails obtained by the Washington Examiner. The staffer added, "Also, we are in conversations with a non-Zionist Jewish bank that will provide us with a special service to avoid the campaign launched against us by the Zionist lobby. This will be ready in a few weeks."
Apple did not return a request for comment. Liz Schulten, a Google Pay spokeswoman, told the Washington Examiner that Google Pay "has no records of an integration" with the fundraiser, noting, "Google Pay is not a payment processor; we are a facilitator."
"We do not allow the APIs to be used for any transactions or provision of products and services by terrorist organizations, or to include any content related to terrorism, such as content that promotes terrorist acts, incites violence, or celebrates terrorist attacks," Google Pay's acceptable use policy states, referring to an acronym for its payment application. "You also may not use the APIs in any way that falsely suggests your use of the APIs is endorsed by or associated with Google, or that is likely to damage or reduce Google’s goodwill or reputation."
Meanwhile, Stripe's policies hold that the company doesn't allow its platform to be used to promote "any other products or services that are in violation of law in the jurisdictions where your business is located or targeted to."
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Stripe could be providing material support to terror due to UAWC being "a PFLP affiliate," according to NGO Monitor legal adviser Anne Herzberg.
Stripe did not reply to requests for comment, nor did UAWC or Bizilur.