Bank of Ireland closes BDS-linked accounts

While Ireland is considered a fairly BDS-friendly country, recent anti-boycott legislation in the United States has discouraged the Bank of Ireland from cooperating with the anti-Israel movement.

The Bank of Ireland in late September shut down three accounts used by the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC), a group linked to the anti-Israel BDS (Boycott, Divest, Santnction) campaign.

Ireland’s RTÉ news reported that the IPSC said the bank closed its accounts citing multiple risks in bank transfers to Palestinian Authority (PA). The IPSC said it transfers funds to a factory in the PA that produces scarves that the IPSC buys to promote its cause.

The IPSC has since opened a new account with the Allied Irish Banks (AIB).

Israel’s Ynet reports that while Ireland is considered a fairly BDS-friendly country, recent anti-boycott legislation in the United States has discouraged the Bank of Ireland from cooperating with the movement.

The decision by Bank of Ireland follows those of other banks in the UK, Austria, Germany, France, and other countries.

IPSC has launched a campaign to have its supporters pressure the Bank of Ireland into reopening its accounts, has taken the case to the Financial Ombudsman and is exploring the option of legal action.

It claimed that the shutting of the accounts appears to be “part of a campaign orchestrated by the Israeli government to silence organizations” which support the global BDS movement.

The BDS movement promotes financial, academic and cultural boycotts against Israel, ostensibly as a nonviolent struggle against the so-called “Israeli occupation.”

Critics say its activities are a modern form of anti-Semitism, and its true objective is to destroy the State of Israel.

By: Aryeh Savir, World Israel News