Several users have reported that Venmo is suspending their payments to Palestinian relief funds. There are some donations on Venmo that have been held paused or even stopped.
Those trying to donate to Palestinian causes are restricted if their transactions contain any combination of “Palestinian” or “Palestine,” along with the phrase “relief fund,” according to fundraisers.
In Tallahassee, Florida, a university student Bana Habash told Middle East Eye that she had worked with a friend on raising money to aid Palestinians affected by Israeli airstrikes on the besieged Gaza Strip.
According to Habash she successfully ended up raising more than $700 in just under half a day but her efforts went unrewarded when she found that some of her donations were being restricted and placed under review by Venmo.
Habash revealed,
“People that were sending funds to the PCRF, which is the Palestinian Children Relief Fund, or just used the Palestinian flag – were fine. But when the word Palestinian was mentioned, the transactions were flagged and we received emails from Venmo asking us to provide a detailed response as to what these donations are going to be used for.”
Increasing violence in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has resulted in donations pouring in from the welfare groups.
