Exclusive: CrowdJustice platform says US firm Stripe, its payment processor, ‘cannot support accounts or transactions’ linked to group
An online crowdfunder to raise money for the UK supreme court challenge to the ban on Palestine Action has been blocked as a result of US sanctions against the direct action group.
CrowdJustice, a UK company, has declined to host a fundraiser for legal fees to fight proscription because the platform uses the US company Stripe as its payment processor.
In an email seen by the Guardian, CrowdJustice said Stripe had confirmed “that it cannot support accounts or transactions linked to, or for the benefit of, Palestine Action. This includes circumstances where funds are being raised for legal proceedings.”
The US sanctions were imposed last month by Donald Trump, using powers introduced by President George W Bush in 2001 shortly after the 9/11 attacks by al-Qaida on the twin towers in New York.
Huda Ammori, a co-founder of Palestine Action, who has brought the legal challenge against the UK ban, said: “Due to CrowdJustice’s and other platforms’ reliance on US services, we are unable to fundraise for legal fees needed for our supreme court challenge.
“On the other hand, the state continues to spend millions of pounds to cover their legal costs to defend the disproportionate and draconian ban, which has led to more than 3,700 arrests for holding signs [allegedly supporting a proscribed organisation]. The British government and the US are putting every possible obstacle in our way, in order to stack the odds against us.”
The Home Office has spent £700,000 defending proscription in the high court, according to the Independent. The total amount spent by the government will be far higher as the case has since been heard by the court of appeal, which overturned the high court’s decision that the ban was unlawful, and moves to the UK’s highest court in November.
When the then home secretary, Yvette Cooper, announced her intention to ban Palestine Action under UK law in June last year, placing the group alongside the likes of Islamic State and Boko Haram, a CrowdJustice fundraiser for legal fees to fund a high court challenge raised more than £300,000 within days.
Ammori said: “Clearly, the powerful have banded together against citizens acting on their conscience against the Israeli war machine and ethnic cleansing of Palestine. It is extremely clear that Palestine Action faces harsher sanctions than Israel.
“The supreme court case is extremely important for our rights to free speech in Britain, but also for the people of Palestine. If we are successful, all prosecutions of protesters who held signs will be rightfully quashed. If not, we will witness thousands of people facing jail for holding placards.”
The former British diplomat Craig Murray, who is separately challenging the legality of the ban on Palestine Action in Scotland, had his own CrowdJustice fundraiser for legal fees taken down after the US designated the group as a global terrorist organisation.
“It’s really disgraceful,” Murray said. “Not only do you have draconian legislation with the proscription of Palestine Action affecting freedom of speech but you’ve then got moves to cripple our ability to fight it legally through the courts, which is just adding injustice to injustice.”
Stripe said it did not comment on individual users. CrowdJustice was also approached for comment.