{"id":59273,"date":"2018-02-07T17:05:27","date_gmt":"2018-02-07T15:05:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=59273"},"modified":"2018-01-31T08:12:30","modified_gmt":"2018-01-31T06:12:30","slug":"07-05-26","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=59273","title":{"rendered":"PAYPAL CLOSES ACCOUNT OF FRENCH BDS ORGANIZATION"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>PAYPAL CLOSES ACCOUNT OF FRENCH BDS ORGANIZATION<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n

BENJAMIN WEINTHAL<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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France has one of the most robust anti-BDS laws in Europe<\/strong><\/p>\n

Protesters hold abanner that reads “Boycott Israel” during a pro-Palestinian demonstration in Paris. (photo credit: AFP PHOTO \/ DOMINIQUE FAGET)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

The US online payment company PayPal closed the account of one of France\u2019s most powerful boycott Israel organizations \u2013 the France-Palestine Solidarity Association \u2013 The Jerusalem Post learned on Friday.<\/span><\/p>\n

As part of an investigative series into funding streams for Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions organizations targeting Israel, the Post had asked PayPal on Tuesday: Is the association\u2019s account with PayPal in violation of France\u2019s anti-discrimination law? Is the account in violation of PayPal\u2019s anti-hate policy? France has one of the most robust anti-BDS laws in Europe, the Lellouche Law, which bans discrimination based on national origin.<\/span><\/p>\n

Paul Furia, a spokesman for the French Foreign Ministry, told the Post that \u201cI can\u2019t comment specifically on the AFPS [the France-Palestine Solidarity Association] PayPal account, nor speak on behalf of the company to tell you whether or not the account should be canceled.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, I want to point out that calling to boycott of Israel is indeed illegal in France. Several decisions of the highest criminal court [the Cour de Cassation] confirmed that calling to boycott breaks the law and constitutes an \u2018incitation to discrimination or hate based on national origin or religion.\u2019\u201d A PayPal representative told the Post on Friday: \u201cDue to customer confidentiality, we cannot comment on the details of any specific PayPal account. However, we would like to stress that PayPal has zero tolerance for the use of our secure payments platform to facilitate illegal activities. We make every effort to comply with laws and regulations around the world. Compliance with these laws is something we take very seriously. We carefully review questionable activities reported to us, and discontinue our relationship with account holders found to violate our policies.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

After a Post 2016 expos\u00e9 of another BDS organization \u2013 Campagne BDS France \u2013 PayPal and banking giant Credit Mutuel closed the group\u2019s accounts amid escalating criticism over its illegal practices.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Israeli government published in early January a list of 20 BDS organizations, which included Campagne BDS France and the France-Palestine Solidarity Association, that are banned from entering the Jewish state. Strategic Affairs Minister Gilad Erdan said at the time: \u201cThe boycott organizations need to know that the State of Israel will act against them and not allow them entry to harm our citizens,\u201d adding, \u201cNo nation would have permitted entry to critics coming to harm the country.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The France-Palestine Solidarity Association said, \u201cThe members of France-Palestine Solidarity Association are attached to the right of peoples to self-determination and to the defense of the individual. Their purpose is to develop solidarity with the Palestinian people and to support them particularly in their fight for the fulfillment of their national rights.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

According to a January 2017 report by the Jerusalem-based NGO Monitor, the France-Palestine Solidarity Association \u201cdoes not publish financial information, reflecting a lack of transparency and accountability,\u201d and the association \u201creceives government funding from the French government through different governmental bodies.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The French Development Agency gave the association \u20ac320,000 for 2017-2019, NGO Monitor wrote.<\/span><\/p>\n

NGO Monitor documented the France-Palestine Solidarity Association\u2019s anti-Israel and allegedly antisemitic language, including calling the Gaza Strip an \u201cextermination camp\u201d due to the \u201ccriminal Israeli government \u2013 and all those who support it… the small \u2018angels of death\u2019 who are sheltered there to continue their experiments and envision the \u2018final solution.\u2019\u201d THE ASSOCIATION accuses Israel of ethnic cleansing and apartheid, and calls for it to \u201cStop hunting Palestinian children!\u201d wrote NGO Monitor. The NGO Monitor research document provides links to the association\u2019s website in connection with its anti-Israel rhetoric.<\/span><\/p>\n

The France-Palestine Solidarity Association terms Israel\u2019s West Bank security barrier an \u201capartheid\u201d wall.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to the association, Israeli policies \u201cinstitutionalize a military and colonial domination over the Palestinian people in order to exploit them and make them disappear as a people, by decomposing it, transferring its population and\/or forcing it to exile. This matches the notion of \u2018sociocide.\u2019\u201d NGO Monitor wrote that the association legitimizes the use of armed struggle as a means for Palestinian liberation and states that Israel \u201cdeploys a state terrorism in the name of preventive war.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

French MP Meyer Habib told the Post on Thursday: \u201cAccording to Article 225-2 of French Criminal Code, French law prohibits all forms of call for economic boycott \u2018on the basis of race, religion or national origin.\u2019\u201d He added that \u201cthe jurisprudence of the French Court of Cassation of October 20, 2015, is perfectly clear in this matter as well. This rule applies to all economic players, including banks. In the light of the above, Credit Mutuel closed BDS France\u2019s account in May 2016.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTruly, AFPS [the France-Palestine Solidarity Association] is part of the BDS movement and promotes discrimination against Israelis because of their national origin. Under the cover of charitable activities for the Palestinian people, they try to circumvent national anti-discrimination regulation in order to promote boycott and hatred of Israel,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Habib continued, \u201cAs a French MP, representing the 150,000 French nationals residing in Israel, I fight fiercely against all forms of hatred toward Israel.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cGenerally speaking, I am absolutely certain that anti-Zionism is the new face of antisemitism. I believe that AFPS\u2019s real activity must be unmasked, and that its bank accounts should be closed in accordance with the law.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Marc A. Greendorfer, the head of the US-based Zachor Legal Institute, which combats BDS activity, filed a complaint with PayPal on Tuesday for providing accounts to the France-Palestine Solidarity Association and the German neo-Nazi organization The Third Way.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOn behalf of Zachor Legal Institute, a civil rights legal foundation, we would like to report two violations of your acceptable use policy,\u201d Greendorfer wrote.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe accounts for the entities listed below violate the AUP, as they promote hate and racial intolerance. Each of these accounts promotes antisemitism and national origin discrimination through their promotion of the so-called \u2018Boycott, Sanction, Divestment\u2019 movement that targets Israel and those of Israeli origin. Please advise us of your position on this report,\u201d he wrote.<\/span><\/p>\n

The France-Palestine Solidarity Association did not immediately respond to Post queries.<\/span><\/p>\n

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PAYPAL CLOSES ACCOUNT OF FRENCH BDS ORGANIZATION BENJAMIN WEINTHAL France has one of the most robust anti-BDS laws in Europe Protesters hold abanner that reads “Boycott Israel” during a pro-Palestinian demonstration in Paris. (photo credit: AFP PHOTO \/ DOMINIQUE FAGET) The US online payment company PayPal closed the account of one of France\u2019s most powerful […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[26,24],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59273"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=59273"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59273\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59294,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59273\/revisions\/59294"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=59273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=59273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=59273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}