Go Fund Me Closed Our Appeal for the Al Tafawk Children’s Centre – They Said It Was A ‘Prohibited Fundraiser’ & Not ‘Expressly Authorized’ by the US and Israel

should be Renamed  ‘Go Fraud Me’ – BOYCOTT This RACIST $ Billion Corporation

Since 2019 the Brighton Trust has funded the Al Tafawk Children’s Centre in Jenin, a city at the heart of Israel’s attempt to ethnically cleanse the West Bank. In April 2020 I launched a Crowdfunder on Go Fund Me.

In the 5 years since the Crowdfunder has been running we have raised over £65,000, of which GFM have taken about £2,000.  During that time the Children’s Centre has been repeatedly attacked by the Israeli army because we know that Hamas loves to hide in children’s centres, hospitals and even reservoirs!

This massive destruction of Jenin Refugee Camp and the Al Tafawk Centre is all the work of Israel's finest

The first major attack on Al Tafawk was in July 2021 when they destroyed much of the interior.  I wrote about it in an article, Why did Israel raid and wreck a children’s centre in Jenin? Again in November 2023 they wrecked much of the interior and for good measure smashed large gaping holes in the exterior of the centre. See my article Palestinian children in the West Bank are also under attack.

Since November 2023 there have been constant attacks on the Centre and on the families and children who use the Centre. Jenin has become a city under siege.

Over a year ago Israel began its series of prolonged raids destroying the Western Union offices.  We then had great difficulty sending money, twice relying on couriers, which was why our donations were reduced from £20K in 2023 to £14.5K in 2024. We simply could not send the money.

However with the aid of our donors and also the The British Shalom-Salaam Trust we were able to keep the Centre afloat despite the toll it was taking on the head teacher, Mona’s health. We also began to utilise the Palestine Bank.

Combined Destruction of Camp and Centre from Inside

The latest attacks on Jenin have not only destroyed much of Jenin Refugee Centre but the Centre itself. When it was finally possible for people to investigate it became clear that the Israeli army had all but destroyed the fabric of the building.

It is testament to the hypocrisy of the West, which never fails to condemn Hamas if it so much as fires a peashooter at Israel, that there has been utter silence about the wanton violence of the Israeli army in attacking and destroying a children’s centre as well as most of the refugee camp itself. Violence against unarmed civilians is perfectly acceptable to genocide supporters such as Slimy Starmer, Lamentable Lammy and the arch-hypocrite herself, Lisa Nandy who once proclaimed on a PSC platform that ‘When you threaten children’s rights anywhere, you threaten children’s rights everywhere’.

This Vile Cow, who is now Culture Secretary, decided to haul the BBC over the coals for having made the film Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone. So much for the rights of children.

For nearly 5 years our Crowdfunder ran without a hitch. People contributed towards it and we passed on the money to the Centre.  Then, out of the blue, we got an email from GFM asking us a series of questions and informing us that they had

temporarily placed your fundraiser under review as we gather more information on your plan to help those abroad... transfers from your fundraiser are paused, your fundraiser remains visible to the public and can continue to receive new donations’. 

In other words although people could donate to the Crowdfunder we would not receive those donations. The email began with that sugary hypocrisy that US Corporations are well known for. The ability to smile and lie at the same time.

Thank you for your efforts to help those affected by the conflict in the Middle East. Due to recent developments within the region, we’re carefully reviewing fundraisers related to this conflict. This is an important step to help ensure fundraisers are in compliance with all applicable laws and strictly enforced policies from our payment partners and our Terms of Service.

They referred to the ‘conflict in the Middle East’ as though it was a war between two equally matched opponents rather than an occupation and asymmetric warfare. They asked us a series of questions but it became increasingly clear that they were not interested in our answers. They had their own agenda which was to terminate us.

Sure enough the next day there arrived a fresh set of questions. What struck me was that they ignored my initial response. It was clear that both sets of questions had been written in advance. One of the questions asked us to

confirm the full name of the person(s) who manages or controls the organization. If any individuals have a 25% stake or greater in the organization, please also provide their full legal name.

Having already provided the name of this person it was clear that whatever I wrote the Crowdfunder had a limited shelf-life. One of the questions sought an

Understanding of the organization's beneficial ownership structure. Please confirm the full name of the person(s) who manages or controls the organization. If any individuals have a 25% stake or greater in the organization, please also provide their full legal name.

It was as if we were dealing with a piece of real estate in the Mid-West rather than a voluntary organisation, so I fired off an angry and derisory letter.

Fortunately I had long feared that this was coming so I immediately got to work and set up a new Crowdfunder with Chuffed and used our continued access to the GFM Crowdfunder to warn all previous donors of what was happening and asking them not to send anything to GFM but to donate to the new Crowdfunder.

I also asked all previous donors to send me their email as GFM doesn’t supply those who run a Crowdfunder with the emails of donors (unlike Chuffed). The response was almost instant and it was clear that the new Crowdfunder had taken off.  Other donors contributed funds directly to the Brighton Trust. However if I had been taken in by GFM’s lies and dissimulation then we would have had a disaster on our hands.

I copy below all the correspondence so you can see for yourself. GFM has a facility where you can thank all the donors repeatedly so I took advantage of that as well as posting numerous updates which automatically went to existing donors.

Meanwhile Mona and the children had been forced out of Jenin Refugee Camp. They are now taking refuge on a college campus but we are in touch with them and regularly sending them money to survive as most people now have no work owing to Israel having effectively destroyed the camp.

As Israel proceeds apace with its project of ethnic cleansing it’s important that people in the West assume responsibility for the maintenance of a population without work and in particular its children. By contributing to the fundraiser you will also get regular updates about what is happening to the Al Tafawk Centre and its children.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHuqw6cdLi4

Combined General - Children of the Al Tafawk Centre Playing

Please Contribute to the Al Tafawk Children’s Centre here

https://www.chuffed.org/project/121096-help-keep-open-jenins-al-tawfawk-centre

GFM is a billion dollar corporation that feeds off the misery of the American people. It makes its money in large part through crowdfunders which aim to raise money to fund medical operations that in this country are still free on the NHS.

Of course if Starmer and Streeting and all the other muppets in ‘Labour’ have their way then we will also be ‘enjoying’ the benefits of an American style health service where the insurance company decides whether you live or die and whether it will choose to honour the payments you have made to it by paying for treatment.

This is the ‘freedom of choice’ that neo-liberalism grants to people without means.  It was quite a shock to the US Corporations when Brian Thompson, CEO of the largest health company, was assassinated by someone aggrieved at how he or his relatives had been treated by one of the largest companies in the world. Social media was full of ‘gloating’ at those who had suffered because of the death of this obnoxious man in charge of this toxic corporation.

As NBC reported

Tens of thousands of people have expressed support on social media for the killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO, or sympathized with it, in what at least one researcher is calling a worrying sign of radicalization among segments of the U.S. population.

GFM is a parasite that lives off this ocean of misery which they are doing their best to spread to Palestine.

Please support our fundraiser and ensure that the Al Tafawk Children’s Centre is not allowed to die.

Tony Greenstein

Compliance Team (GoFundMe)                  Fri 28 Feb, 11:29

Dear Go Fund Me,

In your email informing me that you are taking down a Crowdfunder aimed at supporting the Al Tafawk Children’s Centre in Jenin, Palestine you ended by saying ‘Thank you for your understanding.’

Yes I understand you in the same way that I ‘understand’ the motives of those who carried out the Nazi holocaust or the Genocide in Rwanda. Please believe me when I say that I have utter contempt for you and your parasitic business that feeds off the poorest in society. But perhaps I should explain, as dumb imperialist Yanks aren’t the brightest of creatures.

I have been running a Crowdfunder with you for 5 years, in which time I have raised over £60,000 for the Al Tafawk Centre which the Israeli army has now wrecked, for at least the third time, as part of the United States and Israel’s contribution to civilisation.

The Israeli army, which the United States fucking funds and equips, has destroyed or damaged a children’s centre for no other reason that the Zionists hate Palestinian children. In the words of one Israeli soldier, as he was ripping up a children’s book, ‘these children will only grow up to be terrorists.  They don’t need to learn to read’.

You can read about the previous occasions that Israel has destroyed the Centre here and here.

When you first emailed me on 5 January asking questions and thanking us ‘for your efforts to help those affected by the conflict in the Middle East.’  I smelt a rat. A big Yankee rat. You wrote ‘Due to recent developments within the region, we’re carefully reviewing fundraisers related to this conflict.’ In other words you were seeking to undermine support for the Palestinians as they face ethnic cleansing and genocide.

Fortunately I could smell you a 100 miles away. You reference to a ‘conflict’ was a give away. No doubt the Nazi holocaust was also a ‘conflict’ although only imperialist arseholes would so describe it.

Despite answering your questions I took immediate steps to set up another Crowdfunder in order that you weren’t able to help Trump in his endeavours.

When you then sent a second questionnaire a day later, having not bothered to read our first answers. It asked who was the beneficial owner of the Al Tafawk Centre. I realise that American Scum like you lack any imagination but Jenin is not some left behind mid-Western town. By then I knew that your intentions were malign.

It is therefore no surprise that on 28 February you wrote informing me that you were closing the Crowdfunder down. By that time I was no longer using it anyway but thanks for letting me know of your ill intentions.

What surprised me though is how bad a liar you are Toni. Don’t they give you any training?  Still with a madman like Trump as your  President who needs training? We also have a bad liar in the form of Sir Kid Starver so you would think they’d get on well together.

You told me that after 5 years you only just discovered we were violating your T&Cs.  Apparently we fall under Term 8.6 because our ‘activities’ – feeding hungry children and maintaining a children’s centre as US bombs fall around it, is prohibited because the area is subject to US sanctions.

In fact the West Bank is not subject to US sanctions, unlike so many countries in the world today.  But if it was. So fucking what?  It is against US law it seems. This is the country that respects no law, which has passed ‘The Invasion of Hague Act’ such is your contempt for International Law.

Underneath your charitable veneer there is a billion dollar corporation. Which doesn’t stop you begging for a tip from individual donors as if you were a charity.  Go Fraud Me might be a better name.

But if you think Palestinians suffering from US funded genocide should be sanctioned then it is clear that scum like you should be boycotted. I have found an excellent Crowdfunder, not in the fucking USA, which is immune to racist trash like you. In the USA you make your money from people raising money to obtain medical treatment. That is the sick society that the USA is today. Its no surprise that it’s led by a megalomaniac rapist by the name of Trump.

I shall be contacting the Boycott National Committee to have you added to the list of those to Boycott.

Tony Greenstein

Important Message From GoFundMe [Ticket #15658156]

Compliance Team (GoFundMe)

Fri 28 Feb, 11:29

Dear Tony,

We're sending you this message to tell you that, after further review, your GoFundMe account was removed because it violates our Terms of Service, which you can view here. Specifically, the content of your fundraiser falls under our “Prohibited Fundraisers and Related User Content" section, Term 8.6; “activities with, in, or involving countries, regions, governments, persons, or entities that are subject to U.S. and other economic sanctions under applicable law, unless such activities are expressly authorized by the appropriate governmental authority and by our payment service providers;”

Our Terms of Service, along with strictly enforced policies from the payments industry, prohibit GoFundMe from allowing you to continue raising money on our platform.

Thank you for your understanding.
 

Toni
Compliance Team