The ActBlue fundraising platform is facilitating payments to an anti-Israel organization with ties to several terrorist groups, possibly violating U.S. anti-terrorism laws, a legal group asserts.
The Free Beacon reports that ActBlue, an online donation platform that mainly services both liberal and Democrat-aligned organizations, works with Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI), “a hate group that is controlled by a coalition of organizations that the United States and other countries have designated as foreign terror organizations,” the Zachor Legal Institute says. Zachor is a think-tank and advocacy group that combats anti-Semitism.
The Zachor Legal Institute asserts that hosting services for PACBI—a vital element in the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, means that ActBlue is breaching its own terms of service and abetting an organization that advocates both anti-Semitism and hatred of Israel. The portal also can be violating state anti-BDS laws as well as federal anti-terrorism laws, according to a letter submitted to ActBlue by Zachor.
Contributions to PACBI are solicited via the BDS movement’s main website, BDSMovement.net, and are then subsequently processed by ActBlue. A simple search for PACBI on ActBlue’s virtual directory features a donation form for the organization.
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ActBlue’s partnership with PACBI is seen by many as another instance of the BDS movement’s growing influence in the Democratic Party as well as left-wing organizations that back it. ActBlue has the reputation of being the go-to platform for left-wing fundraising. The portal has taken a key role in soliciting donations for Democratic politicians and left-wing movements, including Black Lives Matter (BLM) organization.
Marc Greendorfer, a lawyer and founder of the Zachor Legal Institute confirmed to the Free Beacon that he still hasn’t heard back from ActBlue about his organization’s letter.
“It’s very concerning that they seem to be comfortable with helping to fund terror groups, even though it subjects them to significant liability for violating federal laws,” Greendorfer said. “The mainstream Democrats, from the president to individuals like NYC mayoral candidate Andrew Yang, have clearly denounced BDS as racism, yet ActBlue, which is deeply involved in helping Democrats, looks the other way as they help BDS financially.”
In January, Israel365 News reported that White House press secretary Jen Psaki refused to condemn the BDS movement.
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