The ActBlue charity platform is facilitating payments to an anti-Israel group tied to multiple terror organizations, potentially violating U.S. anti-terrorism laws, according to a legal group.
ActBlue, an online donation portal that primarily services 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," according to the Zachor Legal Institute, a think-tank and advocacy organization that fights anti-Semitism.
The Zachor Legal Institute maintains that by hosting services for PACBI—a key organizational cog in the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement, which wages economic warfare on Israel—ActBlue is violating its own terms of service and aiding a group that promotes anti-Semitism and hatred of Israel. The platform also could be violating state anti-BDS laws and federal anti-terrorism laws, according to a copy of the Feb. 11 letter the Zachor Legal Institute sent to ActBlue general counsel Steven Gold and obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.
Donations to PACBI are being solicited via the BDS movement's central website, BDSMovement.net, and processed by ActBlue. A search for PACBI on ActBlue's online directory brings up a donation form for the group.
ActBlue's partnership with PACBI is yet another example of the BDS movement's growing footprint in the Democratic Party and liberal organizations that support it. ActBlue has come to be known as the go-to platform for liberal fundraising and has played a central role in collecting donations for Democratic politicians and liberal movements, such as the Black Lives Matter group. ActBlue did not respond to multiple Free Beacon requests for comment on the issues raised in the Zachor Legal Institute's letter.
Marc Greendorfer, an attorney and the Zachor Legal Institute's founder, confirmed to the Free Beacon that he has yet to hear back from ActBlue about his group'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."
PACBI is one of several foreign organizations that comprise the global BDS movement's advocacy network. As a founding member of the BDS movement, it operates under the Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC), which serves as an umbrella group for the numerous organizations championing Israel boycotts. "Among the other members of this coalition are the designated terror groups Hamas, Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Palestine Islamic Jihad, Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command, and Palestinian Liberation Front," according to the letter sent to ActBlue.
As part of the BNC's umbrella, PACBI supports the BDS movement and coordinates its efforts. Online organizations, including Zoom, YouTube, and Facebook, have banned BDS supporters for promoting hate speech and anti-Semitism. The Zachor Legal Institute argues that PACBI's relationship with ActBlue raises questions about whether the charity organization is running afoul of U.S. law.
"As a terror-backed hate group, PACBI's activities constitute a violation of ActBlue's terms of service, as ActBlue does not allow illegal, obscene, threatening, defamatory or otherwise injurious content," the group wrote. "PACBI's role in the governing body of the BDS movement implicates it as violating various anti-discrimination [laws] including state anti-BDS laws."
Additionally, "there can be no question that when PACBI raises funds through ActBlue, those funds are being used by the BNC and its designated terror group members in violation [of U.S. law], which prohibits any party from providing material support to designated terror organizations."
The Zachor Legal Institute maintains ActBlue's facilitation of payments to PACBI also constitutes a violation of anti-money-laundering laws.