Legal Defense for Palestine

In 2023, a Washington Examiner article reported on PayPal allowing the Alliance for Global Justice (AfGJ), the then-fiscal sponsor of Legal Defense for Palestine (LDP), to use its payment processing platform. LDP’s website was taken down following the article’s publication. ^{4 5  6}

In addition to pro-Palestinian groups like the One Democratic State Campaign, AFGJ has been accused of previously sponsoring organizations connected to the terrorist faction Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). ^{7 8}

Fundraising Controversy

In 2017, the Legal Defense for Palestine (LDP) began a fundraising campaign through crowdsource website IndieGoGo that sought to raise $30,000 to cover legal fees and expenses related to the group’s representation of alleged Palestinian criminals in Israeli courts. The campaign raised $7,940. ¹

In 2023, the Washington Examiner published an article on payment processing company PayPal allowing the Alliance for Global Justice (AfGJ), the fiscal sponsor of Legal Defense for Palestine (LDP) to use its platform. The AfGJ had been accused of fiscally sponsoring organizations connected to pro-terror organization Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). Following the article’s release, PayPal ceased business with the AfGJ.  ^{9 10  11}

Alliance for Global Justice

The Alliance for Global Justice (AfGJ) was the fiscal sponsor of Legal Defense for Palestine (LDP). ^{9  6 5}  AfGJ is an organizing group that serves as a fiscal sponsor to several left-wing organizations including Refuse Fascism, United Students Against Sweatshops, and Stop Mass Incarceration. ^{12 13  14}

In addition to LDP, AfGJ fiscally has sponsored other pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel groups, including the One Democratic State Campaign.  ^{7 8}

In January 2023, AfGJ received a federal complaint over its fundraising efforts for Collectif Palestine Vaincra (CPV), a French nonprofit organization that is a partner of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization and an umbrella organization of groups connected to political groups within the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO). Marc Greendorfer, an attorney and head of pro-Israel advocacy group Zachor Legal Institute, demanded the IRS investigate AfGJ for “providing ‘material support’ to terrorism.” ¹⁵

Finances

Legal Defense for Palestine (LDP) was a fiscal project of the Alliance for Global Justice (AfGJ). In 2023, the Alliance for Global Justice (AfGJ) reported $6,707,856 in total revenue, $8,818,230 in total expenses, and $9,058,695 in total assets. ¹⁶

AfGJ has received funding from left-of-center organizations including George Soros’s Open Society Foundations and the Tides Foundation. ^{17 9}