Support growing for boycott of BNP-supporter Paypal
Ketlan Ossowski | 20.11.2005 12:52 | Anti-racism
Paypal needs to be told that its support of the BNP will not be tolerated by those opposed to racism and fascism.
Support growing for boycott of BNP-supporter Paypal
Following the freezing of the accounts of the British National Party by British high street banks HSBC and Barclays, because of its racist views and its clear links with such nazi groups as the National Front and Combat 18, the BNP have resorted to using the internet-based banking service Paypal. Anxious to raise money for what it sees as a last-ditch fight in the May 2006 local council elections, the BNP is using Paypal for donations and as a way to easily shift money from place to place to pay for the thousands of leaflets and posters necessary for any campaign at local level.
For Nick Griffin, the current leader of the BNP, this election could be the final test of his leadership abilities. After their disastrous performances in the European and General Elections, the BNP membership will be expecting good results this time, particularly as the BNP has plenty of practice at jumping on local bandwagons (and of course, discarding them when they are no longer of use). If the BNP fails in May, Griffin will be out on his ear and the BNP will revert to its previous state of impotent (and overt) racism and political confusion.
The Asian Today, a free English-language newspaper that goes out to thousands of Asians throughout the Midlands, has produced an excellent article supporting the Lancaster UAF boycott of Paypal and encouraging readers to write to or email Paypal to demand action - primarily to throw the BNP out and thus stop Paypal's support of a clearly fascist organization. Paypal is now owned by eBay, a company that has responded to complaints in the past, so we know that a well co-ordinated boycott can be successful. It's now up to you to spread the boycott and make this company sit up and take notice.
How do we do this? By contacting Paypal repeatedly over this issue, by contacting our local MP and asking them to contact Paypal, by starting a campaign in our local newspaper, by spreading this message as far and as fast as we can. Just because Paypal isn't a High Street bank doesn't mean it's not vulnerable to pressure. Let's see what we can do with this. Let's get the BNP thrown off Paypal and watch where it goes from there. Its options are fast running out and without an easy way to generate and manage donations its financial condition will be disastrous.
According to Asian Today (Oct 28th/Nov 10th), Paypal are currently reviewing the issue of the BNP. Letters and emails pointing out that the BNP are in clear violation of the Offensive Materials Policy of the companies Acceptable Use terms will go a long way towards convincing Paypal that the BNP are more trouble than they are worth.
There are many ways of fighting the nazi menace that threatens all of us - this is one way that everyone with access to email or the internet can join in.
For more information, email Lancaster Unite Against Fascism at
zen26144@zen.co.uk or check out the Lancaster UAF blog at 
http://82.69.12.18/lancasteruafblog/index.php?itemid=27
Paypal can be emailed directly at ppelce@paypal.com or by visiting the complaints section of their main website at http://www.paypal.com/ewf/f=complaint_eucomplaint&return_page=ppel_qa_pair
Let's get busy!
Ketlan
for Lancaster UAF
Following the freezing of the accounts of the British National Party by British high street banks HSBC and Barclays, because of its racist views and its clear links with such nazi groups as the National Front and Combat 18, the BNP have resorted to using the internet-based banking service Paypal. Anxious to raise money for what it sees as a last-ditch fight in the May 2006 local council elections, the BNP is using Paypal for donations and as a way to easily shift money from place to place to pay for the thousands of leaflets and posters necessary for any campaign at local level.
For Nick Griffin, the current leader of the BNP, this election could be the final test of his leadership abilities. After their disastrous performances in the European and General Elections, the BNP membership will be expecting good results this time, particularly as the BNP has plenty of practice at jumping on local bandwagons (and of course, discarding them when they are no longer of use). If the BNP fails in May, Griffin will be out on his ear and the BNP will revert to its previous state of impotent (and overt) racism and political confusion.
The Asian Today, a free English-language newspaper that goes out to thousands of Asians throughout the Midlands, has produced an excellent article supporting the Lancaster UAF boycott of Paypal and encouraging readers to write to or email Paypal to demand action - primarily to throw the BNP out and thus stop Paypal's support of a clearly fascist organization. Paypal is now owned by eBay, a company that has responded to complaints in the past, so we know that a well co-ordinated boycott can be successful. It's now up to you to spread the boycott and make this company sit up and take notice.
How do we do this? By contacting Paypal repeatedly over this issue, by contacting our local MP and asking them to contact Paypal, by starting a campaign in our local newspaper, by spreading this message as far and as fast as we can. Just because Paypal isn't a High Street bank doesn't mean it's not vulnerable to pressure. Let's see what we can do with this. Let's get the BNP thrown off Paypal and watch where it goes from there. Its options are fast running out and without an easy way to generate and manage donations its financial condition will be disastrous.
According to Asian Today (Oct 28th/Nov 10th), Paypal are currently reviewing the issue of the BNP. Letters and emails pointing out that the BNP are in clear violation of the Offensive Materials Policy of the companies Acceptable Use terms will go a long way towards convincing Paypal that the BNP are more trouble than they are worth.
There are many ways of fighting the nazi menace that threatens all of us - this is one way that everyone with access to email or the internet can join in.
For more information, email Lancaster Unite Against Fascism at
zen26144@zen.co.uk or check out the Lancaster UAF blog at http://82.69.12.18/lancasteruafblog/index.php?itemid=27 Paypal can be emailed directly at
ppelce@paypal.com or by visiting the complaints section of their main website at http://www.paypal.com/ewf/f=complaint_eucomplaint&return_page=ppel_qa_pair Let's get busy!
Ketlan
for Lancaster UAF
Ketlan Ossowski
e-mail:
zen26144@zen.co.uk
Homepage:
http://82.69.12.18/lancasteruafblog/
Comments
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..
20.11.2005 13:43
jo
NO, Jo.
20.11.2005 14:20
"Free speech" is not a good enough excuse to allow fascism any leeway.
naive liberals get in the way of progress
Tut Tut
20.11.2005 15:28
Tom
Other reasons to dump Paypal
20.11.2005 16:44
Good alternatives:
Used (all satisfactory):
Not used, but know of others using them:
Payandpayandpay, pal
let's have some consistency here!
20.11.2005 16:48
Now you insist that free speech has its limitations.
I probably agree with the latter view, as inciting racial etc hatred is beyond free speech.
I am looking forward to the people on the Irving post to come here now and condemn this outrageous attempt to silence the glorious BNP now, please. They're being persecuted by the Zionists!!!
jo
Paypal boycott
20.11.2005 16:49
Stomper
Bye bye Nazi Stomper
20.11.2005 18:04
I strongly recommend the new harry potter film to all nazi's, especially those who post on stormfront, because it will really wind you up.... !even wizards hate the fash!
sinisterpenguin
tell the truth
20.11.2005 20:29
You dislike the BNP because you are Communists and see them as political oposites.
You could not care less about racism or fascism, you just want to attack a political rival and one you are jealous of because people have voted for them , unlike every election the communist ever stood in.
End of story
Braz
stuff the BNP
20.11.2005 22:46
mark
free speech?
20.11.2005 23:23
jo
...
21.11.2005 08:31
No, I don't have any answers myself - and please don't think I'm a far-right apologist for wanting to make this point.
Hypnotised
poor logic ...
21.11.2005 09:01
I'm not sure that paypal can be forced in law - and would probably reject such a law - to abandon business with the political wing of british nationalism. Were it combat 18 or the national front, things would be diferent - both having crossed hte line into ilegal agitation long ago.
I hope soon, that eveidence will be brought to bear in a legal case against the bnp for incitement and ilegal activities - and then the burdon of action can be removed from paypal.
Meanwhile, we can assist their decision making process by showing our extreme distaste for the decisions they have made and attempt to force a ban through traditional campaign activities!
jackslucid
e-mail:
jackslucid@hotmail.com
Very true
21.11.2005 09:12
One of the major problems with taking on Griffin and co is that they actually use any criticism as a recruiting tool — witness the stream of bile about being a poor persecuted minority when they were charged with inciting racial hatred last year. I wouldn't be at all suprised if some BNP goon used the stick they get on here as material for their own campaigning: "the same people who say we shouldn't be allowed to exist CELEBRATE when our brave police and soldiers are MURDERED by evil muslim etc etc"...
If scum like this are ever to be truly defeated, we need to find out why they're so popular to begin with and offer a genuine alternative to people who feel their only choice is to vote for them. Simply branding anyone who does so an evil racist isn't enough.
FTB
...
21.11.2005 13:01
I don't think it is the 'leftists' on this site who are defending David Irving, but the BNP on this site, who unfortunately seem to be a constant presence, or the conspiracists, who don't define themselves as 'right-wing', but whose beliefs that a conspiracy consisting of Tony Blair, the Illuminati and the Jews are responsible for everything from 9-11 to Hurricane Katrina are the same sort of conspiracist views that the nazis possessed.
I am strongly anti-zionist, but there are people on this site manipulating the situation for their own hate-filled aims. We get all sorts here. We have socialists, anarchists and liberals, but also the zionist far-right ( Betar ) and the anti-zionist far-right. So keep your eyes open.
Hermes
jackslucid
21.11.2005 22:46
And remember, the issue I was taking you to task on was your openly expressed sympathies and flirtations with Holocaust denial, stop hiding behind free speech claims.
jo
squeeze ...
22.11.2005 10:38
... "And remember, the issue I was taking you to task on was your openly expressed sympathies and flirtations with Holocaust denial, stop hiding behind free speech claims." ...
... that way, it will be easier for you to maintain unconditional support for the criminal reign of israel.
Meanwhile back on planet earth:
... free speech is free speech (ie an inalienable right not to be given as a privalige or removed as a punishment) ...
... whilst you and yours are busily deciding what we can and cannot say & think, those with an interest in maintaining historical untruths (funniliy enough those two old friends nazism and zionism!) exploit the confusion for their own ends ...
... if you have to sacrifice truth for your 'ism', I don't want to join in.
jackslucid
e-mail:
jackslucid@hotmail.com
Freedom of association, not freedom of speech
22.11.2005 20:09
The issue is about private property and individual freedom of association. Paypal is a private business and it is their right to accept or decline anyone's business according to their own whim, whether it's arbitrary, consistent, logical or otherwise. Most especially, they retain that right whether you agree with them or not.
Of course, it's not just Paypal's right. It's everyone's right to associate with anyone they choose, within the law. We would be rightly offended if we were prevented from associating with anyone we chose, whether socially, commercially or politically. It's down to us, not anyone else.
Freedom of speech refers to the right of people to express themselves in public or in public fora without being limited by the state. It's something that I strongly support. People do not have a right to compel others to do business with them, or, of course, to provide a platform for their speech using their own private resources. Opinions differ on whether or not such a thing is desirable anyway for certain groups in certain contexts, but the point remains that it is not a right but a matter of individual choice.
I support anyone that wants to make their feelings known to Paypal, whether they support or oppose the BNP's use of the service. I also support anyone's decision to continue or discontinue using Paypal's service. We all want to support businesses we agree with with our money and refuse to trade with those we don't.
But remember that whether Paypal decide on the basis of principle, commercial expediency or public image, whatever they do will be upholding their own rights, not the BNP's. We all benefit from exercising those same rights every day.
Zorro
Free speech?
22.11.2005 22:24
I wasn't suggesting any change in the law - simply an appeal to any sense of morality that Paypal or its corporate myrmidons may have tucked away somewhere.
'Campaigns like this fail to address the real social problems which lead to support for dickheads like the BNP in isolated and alienated communities...'
Of course, and in this particular case, it's not intended to. The societal problems that lead to a rise in fascism are enormously complex and embrace almost every subject under the sun. This is just one tiny campaign though, in a sea of campaigns to right wrongs. The fact that Paypal, by its provision of services to the BNP, tacitly supports its activities, is just one of many issues that those who oppose fascism are embracing. If the campaign is successful and Paypal dumps the BNP and thinks again before taking on a similar group, it has achieved a small victory that's worth having. And if, in the process, the BNP is caused some financial headaches, well, that's worth having too.
PS Thanks Mark - and anyone else who writes. There's a better link here:
Ketlan
martyrs
24.11.2005 14:36
zzzzzzzzz
UAF Welcomes Tory
24.11.2005 14:44
An unlikely coalition of a Tory MP and the extreme left wing thugs of Unite Against Fascism (sic) are pushing to deny the BNP our Internet payment service.
We BNP sell our merchandise, publications and accept membership dues and donations through the online payment service of American based PayPal, owned by the Internet giant Ebay. We generate thousands of pounds each month through this mechanism and PayPal receive significant commission from our operations and due to our exemplary attention to the needs of our customers and donors we are model clients of PayPal who have never needed to investigate a single complaint.
Legal issues
However the malodorous thugs of Unite Against Fascism, a campaign group whose sole mission is to shut down a perfectly legal political party which achieved nearly one million votes in the 2004 Euro and council elections combined, have won over the services of Ben Wallace, Conservative MP for Lancaster and Wyre. Mr. Wallace has written to Geoff Iddison the Chief Exec of Paypal, demanding that PayPal terminate their contract with the BNP.
This is a shocking move by an elected representative to deny us goods and services and his actions falls foul of legislation designed to protect political, religious and ethnic organisations such as ourselves against discrimination and if PayPal do terminate our contract not only will our legal team swing into action and challenge this in court but we will also be taking legal action against the Tory MP.
A PayPal spokesman this afternoon assured our Treasury team that no action will be taken until senior managers were consulted and as far as PayPal was concerned we had not broken any of the company’s strict terms and conditions.
UAF
UAF is an offshoot of the equally bizarre named Anti-Nazi League and continues that organisation’s propensity for violence, disorder and disruption. UAF members who are mostly students, full time union officials, full time charity workers for Gay, Lesbian and Transgender Organisations and members of ethnic minority groups, harass BNP candidates and members whose home details are routinely collected and in several cases have been physically attacked.
The mentality of the members of UAF can be deduced from the above pictures which show the mess of placards and banners discarded on the streets of Leeds outside Leeds Crown Court on November 2nd following their protest against Free Speech. Mark Collett and Nick Griffin had to attend a legal formality at the Crown Court as a prelude to their trial in January 2006. The mess left behind was cleared up – by BNP activists and police officers as the pictures clearly reveal.
the other side of the coin
And You Think the BNP is Racist?
28.11.2005 18:54
And you call yourselves "anti fascist" yet you try and forcefully prevent people voting for, and supporting, a perfectly legal party. It is yourselves who are the true fascists, not the BNP.
Vikki
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