French Payment Service Supports BDS, Defies Anti-BDS Law

The company claims to be apolitical and sees BDS as within the realm of free expression.
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A PALESTINIAN supporter holds a protest leaflet advocating a boycott of Israel in France

The online payment service HelloAsso announced that it will continue to provide services to boycott Israel organizations whose accounts were shut down by PayPal and French banks for apparent violations of France’s anti-discrimination law.

HelloAsso tweeted a statement on September 3, saying: “We took the decision not to suspend the HelloAsso account of the France-Palestine Solidarity Association.”

The US online payment giant PayPal closed the account of the pro-BDS France-Palestine Solidarity Association in January.

BDS is an abbreviation for the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions campaign targeting Israel.

As part of an investigative series into funding streams for BDS organizations waging economic warfare against the Jewish state, The Jerusalem Post had asked PayPal: Is the association’s account with PayPal in violation of France’s anti-discrimination Lellouche law?

After the Post query, PayPal shut down the service for the France-Palestine Solidarity Association.

HelloAsso wrote on Twitter on September 3, according to a translation on the website of the BDS movement that was verified by the Post, that “HelloAsso is an apolitical platform that does not take any position regarding the claims of the BDS movement. HelloAsso nevertheless considers this movement as within the realm of free expression and not as discriminatory or antisemitic.

French Payment Service Supports BDS, Defies Anti-BDS Law

The company claims to be apolitical and sees BDS as within the realm of free expression.
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