Bank of Ireland closes IPSC accounts – We need your help!

international | rights, freedoms and repression | press release Saturday October 15, 2016 21:53 by 1 of Indymedia - Irish Palestine Solidarity Campaign

This press release was reported on the 3rd but it has only come to our attention recently and it is likely did not receive much coverage. Therefore we are posting it here.

In a frankly shocking move, the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) had its bank accounts closed last week by Bank of Ireland without any proper explanation other than we no longer met their “risk appetite”.

It is a move which appears to be part of a campaign orchestrated by the Israeli government to silence organisations which support the global boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign which aims to pressure Israel until it ends its occupation of Palestine and adheres fully to international law ensuring freedom, justice and equality for the Palestinian people.

As the BDS movement has grown exponentially worldwide, marking up many victories in the struggle for Palestinian rights against Israeli apartheid, Israeli officials, including government ministers, have repeatedly spoken of their intent to attack the BDS movement abroad, seeking to use its influence with allied governments to criminalise the non-violent campaign for Palestinian rights. The Israeli Minister in charge of anti-BDS operations, Strategic Affairs Minister Gilad Erdan has openly spoken of making BDS activists ‘pay the price’, and said that Israel is attempting to get banks to shut down BDS groups’ accounts. Palestinian rights’ groups in the UK, Germany, France and Austria have all had accounts closed in the recent past in what appears to be a coordinated attack. In light of this context, we view this as a sinister move by Bank of Ireland suggesting interference by the Israeli state in the business affairs of a sovereign nation

We are asking for people to support the IPSC in its legitimate campaign to promote BDS and defend Palestinian rights by condemning the account closures and calling on Bank of Ireland to reinstate our bank accounts. This is not only a direct attack on our ability to function as an organisation – but an attack on free speech and the ability of civil society groups to take effective action for justice, whether at home or abroad.

What you – especially BOI customers – can do to help:

As a supporter of the rights of Palestinians, we are asking you to take action to back our request to Bank of Ireland (BOI) to re-open our bank accounts.

* Email to complain to BOI head office on contactus@boi.com
* Call BOI and complain on 0818 200 365 or 00353 1404 4000 (outside ROI).
* Write to complain – Bank of Ireland Head Office, 40 Mespil Road, Dublin 4
* Talk to a bank manager in your local branch
* Consider closing any accounts (if you are in a position to) you may have with BOI and telling them that the closure of our accounts and the BOI’s evident lack of respect for Palestinian rights is the reason why you are doing so.
* For all the background information you need you can read our full statement about the account closures here. It’s a little long, but this is such an important issue we had to cover everything, and it will give you all the info you need.
* Donate to the IPSC to help us continue our work by going here.

The good news…

The good news is this attack shows that BDS is having an effect in putting pressure on Israel to ensure Palestinian rights. If the old saying that ‘first they ignore you, then they mock you, then they fight you, then you win’ rings true, then we are certainly at the ‘then they fight you’ stage. The global BDS movement for justice for Palestinians has come a long way in just over a decade, and we in the IPSC are proud to have played a role in its growth.

The bad news…

The bad news is that the BDS movement is now under attack globally. For us this has meant that even though we have secured new banking facilities, this closure of our accounts will hit us hard as we have been unable to contact everyone who had regular donations, and will inevitably lose some Standing Orders and automatic membership renewals.
Please consider becoming a financial supporter

So, to help us continue our vital work in solidity with the Palestinian people’s fight for justice, we ask you to please consider taking out a regular donation subscription with the IPSC either via Standing Order or via PayPal.
Donate via Standing Order Bank Transfer
http://www.ipsc.ie/get-involved/standing-orders

Donate via Regular PayPal Subscription
http://www.ipsc.ie/get-involved/donate/paypal

Make a Once-Off Donation
http://www.ipsc.ie/get-involved/donate/once-off-donatio...nk-ac

Thank you in advance for your support during this crazy time, and huge thanks to everyone who has already given us support (moral, political and financial) and shown solidarity over the past few days following Bank of Ireland’s scandalous decision to close our accounts. It’s been a crazy and frustrating few days, but it’s been wonderful to see such love, righteous anger and compassion for the Palestinian people’s struggle for freedom and justice on display.

The struggle for justice continues! End Israeli Apartheid – Support the Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions Movement!

Related: An Attack on Palestinian Rights & BDS: IPSC Statement on the outrageous closure of bank accounts by Bank of Ireland
http://www.ipsc.ie/press-releases/an-attack-on-palestin...eland