JustGiving has been criticised after ‘initially failing to pay out’ more than £20,000 for a crowdfunding appeal on the basis that they deemed the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) to be a "militia".
The crowd funder was set up by two friends, one based in Israel and the other in London, on October 8 to help Israeli soldiers keep in touch with their families.
The JustGiving page explained that it aimed to raise money to buy portable batteries and power banks for mobile phones for IDF soldiers, so they could call their loved ones to tell them they are safe.
It raised £21,710 from 147 donors around the world, putting their campaign in the top one percent of fundraisers.
But when the pair tried to withdraw their funds on October 30, they were told that their account was frozen as their fundraising campaign had breached JustGiving's "community guidelines".
At the time, their guidelines stated that it did not permit campaigns that seek to "fund terrorism, rebel groups, militias or gangs". Funds that may go towards the "procurement of weapons" are also barred.
As a result, JustGiving said it had frozen the funds and threatened to either send the money back to donors or hand it over to a different charity.
After this news, UKLFI, a voluntary association of lawyers who support Israel and seek the proper application of the law in matters relating to Israel, wrote to Michael Gianoni, CEO of Blackbaud Inc which is the parent company of JustGiving, to point out that the IDF is not a militia and that mobile phone chargers are not weapons.
JustGiving's senior vice president and general counsel Jon Olson initially told UKLFI: "Our terms and guidelines do not permit campaigns that seek to fund militias or the procurement of weapons.
“Upon our review of your campaign, we have determined that the risk of these funds being used to support a militia is apparent".
Israeli army soldiers walk at a position near the border with Gaza in southern Israel on October 11, 2023 (Photo: Getty)
JustGiving subsequently updated its policy to say it would remove "pages that promote or seek to support any military organisation".
UKLFI then argued that it amounted to discrimination under the Equality Act to refuse to pay out funds for Israeli soldiers when there had been numerous fundraisers for Ukrainian and British soldiers.
The organisation also said the change in terms also appeared to be an attempt to "manufacture evidence in order to support their desire to discriminate against the campaign based on clear anti-Israel bias".
UKLFI later had a meeting with senior executives.
JustGiving eventually agreed to release the funds and acknowledged they had been wrong to withhold them.
Caroline Turner, a director at UKLFI, said: "It is absolutely outrageous and deeply worrying that senior executives at JustGiving maintained that the IDF is a militia and blocked the release of the funds.
"The IDF is the army of a sovereign state, fighting a war against the terrorist group Hamas. Soldiers take huge precautions while operating in extremely difficult circumstances.
“It is not only incorrect but also an insulting slur to call the IDF a militia.
"I am glad JustGiving eventually released the funds, following our interventions."
A spokesperson for JustGiving said: “As a regulated business we have very careful vetting processes in place to ensure all crowdfunding pages are legitimate and adhere to our community guidelines.
“On this occasion, we’re sorry that our vetting processes took longer than usual, but we’re pleased to have reached a suitable outcome.”
