PayPal drops War on Want following Lawfare Project and UK Lawyers for Israel complaint to Charity Commission

PayPal has stopped providing services to the UK-based charity War on Want. This follows UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) notifying PayPal that War on Want appears to have close links to a terrorist organization, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). Those links were recently highlighted by UKLFI and The Lawfare Project in a complaint jointly submitted to the Charity Commission for England and Wales.

The PFLP is designated as a terrorist organization by the United Kingdom, United States, EU, Canada, Israel, and other countries. As well as its alleged links to the PFLP, the complaint to the Charity Commission also asserts that War on Want promotes dishonest and frequently anti-Semitic narratives on Israel and misuses charitable funds to spread political propaganda.

PayPal also recently stopped providing services to International Alliance, a German charity similarly alleged to be linked to the PFLP.

In an article last week, Lawfare Project Executive Director, Brooke Goldstein, and UKLFI Chief Executive, Jonathan Turner, called upon the Charity Commission to "at long last hold to account charities that claim to be providing aid, while aiding and abetting terrorist affiliated groups and anti-Semitic narratives.”

In addition to their complaint regarding War on Want, The Lawfare Project and UKLFI submitted another complaint to the Charity Commission earlier this year against Medical Aid for Palestinians regarding its own alleged links to the PFLP, misuse of funds, and dissemination of misleading political propaganda.