Interpal - The Media, Banks and Interpal

The Media, Banks and Interpal

• On 6 January 2006 the Wall Street Journal reported that a suit was filed by an individual in the Brooklyn Federal Court in New York against the NatWest, part of the Royal Bank of Scotland for providing banking services to Interpal, claiming that the group has been identified as linked to terrorism. NatWest is hoping to have the charges, which it claims are spurious and absurd, dismissed.

• On 15 January 2006 the Sunday Telegraph reported that Zvi Heifetz, Israel's ambassador to London, would hold urgent talks with Ivan Lewis, the Economic Secretary to the Treasury and a Vice-Chair of Labour Friends of Israel, in order to demand action be taken against Interpal after George Galloway entered the reality television show Celebrity Big Brother UK to earn money for his charity of choice, Interpal. Interpal reacted to the claims by issuing a statement saying "Regrettably, there are many who want to stop the little charitable support we give from actually getting to needy Palestinians. We believe we are targets of the Israeli and US governments purely because we are a Muslim-run charity".

• On 2 July 2006, The Jerusalem Post also issued an apology to Interpal regarding a defamatory article it published.

• On 29 July 2006 the BBC Panorama programme investigated to find out how Interpal's donations have allegedly helped build support for Hamas, the elected government of the Palestinian people. It claimed that Interpal was funding organisations that proclaimed a "jihadist ideology", and that there were personal links between Interpal's chief trustee and Hamas figures.

• On 20 March 2007 Interpal’s bank accounts with British bank NatWest/Royal Bank of Scotland (who Interpal have had a mutually beneficial banking relationship with for over a decade) were closed by the bank, which cited pressure from the US legal system as the reason. The suit, filed in the federal court in Brooklyn in January 2006, made claims on behalf of 15 families of Americans wounded in attacks. It said NatWest, owned by RBS, allowed Interpal to raise funds on its website knowing the US government identified the charity as a fundraiser for Hamas, violating US anti-terrorism laws.

• Interpal was being investigated in Australia as of September 2008 for its alleged links with Hamas.

• The Islamic Bank of Britain has been put under pressure from its clearing bank, Lloyds TSB, been forced to cease all dealings with Interpal and will close the charity’s bank account as of 8 December 2008. IBB has expressed full support for Interpal. No explanation has been given for this action by Lloyds TSB and Interpal’s work is under threat of closure unless the decision is reversed.

• On 22 July 2010, Interpal’s lawyers, Carter-Ruck issued a press release to mark the close of the charity’s libel case against the Sunday Express. A statement read in the High Court before Mr. Justice Eady confirmed the paper’s acceptance that the allegations it made that Interpal supported Hamas were false, to make an apology, and to pay Interpal £60,000 plus legal costs in settlement.