The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Terrorist Jihad vs. the Tip Jar

Posted on | June 12, 2010 | 68 Comments

What just happened to Pamela Geller at Atlas Shrugs ought to scare the bejeebers out of every blogger:

Paypal is calling Atlas a “hate” site and will close my account if I do not remove the paypal option from my website.

I just got off the phone with Pamela, who explained that this was almost certainly a response to media coverage of her organization’s “Leaving Islam” bus advertising campaign, e.g., the Associated Press:

The questions on the ads aren’t subtle: Leaving Islam? Fatwa on your head? Is your family threatening you?
A conservative activist and the organizations she leads have paid several thousand dollars for the ads to run on at least 30 city buses for a month. The ads point to a website called RefugefromIslam.com, which offers information to those wishing to leave Islam, but some Muslims are calling the ads a smoke screen for an anti-Muslim agenda.
Pamela Geller, who leads an organization called Stop Islamization of America, said the ads were meant to help provide resources for Muslims who are fearful of leaving the faith. . . .

Wait, did you notice that? Guess who the Associated Press quotes as “some Muslims”?

Faiza Ali, of the New York chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations

One may surmise that CAIR and others complained to PayPal in an effort to eliminate online revenue for Geller and SOIA. And make no mistake: Online revenue is just about all she’s got.

This is the same thing that the Left has done against Glenn Beck’s advertisers: The minute any conservative begins to have any real success — WHAM!

Some are suggesting a boycott of PayPal but — good Lord! — how else am I supposed to pay for my daughter’s wedding next month? I need that money, and since Amazon ended its online payment service, PayPal’s got a monopoly.

Let’s hope PayPal can be made to understand that they’re being used as weapons in a financial jihad against truth and will rescind their fatwa against Geller.  In the meantime, those who wish to help Pamela Geller and SOIA can send checks by mail to:

Pamela Geller
PO Box 121
1040 1st Avenue
New York NY 10022

If jihadis can shut down our tip-jars, the independent conservative blogosphere is doomed, people.

UPDATE: Carl in Jerusalem:

Paypal has a subsidiary in Israel. Are they going to cut off pro-Israel speech too?
What is wrong with these people?

If you want to write a persuasive, intelligent and courteous e-mail asking PayPal to reconsider its threat to Pamela Geller, please send it to [email protected].

UPDATE II: Ed Driscoll and Instapundit both relate this to the “We Con the World” video being taken down, but video takedowns are already a too-familiar story in online political combat. A direct attack on a major source of funding for the blogsophere? That’s news.

And I’ve got a wedding to pay for!

UPDATE III: Top thread on Memeorandum, and I felt obliged to do some reporting at The American Spectator:

“What do they expect me to do, stop blogging about jihad?” said Geller . . .

Which was linked by Instapundit. Pamela rolls hard, as they say, but the Jawas note that the pro-jihad Revolution Muslim site still has a PayPal button.

Thanks for the linkage at Soylent Green and Bread Upon the Waters, while Pamela also gets a shout-out from Kathy Shaidle’s sweetie Blazing Cat Fur. As Pamela told me, this incident came in the immediate aftermath of her recent high-profile media appearances, such as this appearance in a Reuters news video:

Notice that the spokeswoman whom Reuters chooses as “balance” to Geller is Daisy Khan, whose organization is behind the “Ground Zero mosque” idea. And who is footing the bill for the American Society for Muslim Advancement?

Moreover, financial records show that in fiscal year 2009, ASMA collected a number of international donations that totaled, collectively, at least $1.3 million. The largest sum, $576,312, came from Qatar. ASMA also received $481,942 from Holland’s Millennial Development Goals Fund; $144,752 from the Carnegie Corporation of New York; and $53,664 from the United Nations Population Fund.

Read the rest of that — not just the foreign money, but Carnegie, Rockefeller, Ford, a veritable Who’s Who of elite philanthropic foundations, none of whom ever gave a penny to any conservative group. And what kind of religious organization would accept money from the United Nations Population Fund? They’re WorldWide Abortion Inc. Their motto  might as well be “World Peace Through Dead Babies.”

So the Ground Zero mosque people get millions from big-time foundations, plus the United Nations and all kinds of foreign money, and Pamela Geller can’t be permitted to push back with a few thousand bucks raised via PayPal?

Hello?

People are calling for an immediate boycott of PayPal, but as I pointed out in the comments below, this “usage” notice was sent to Pamela on a Saturday morning. Executives at PayPal haven’t had a chance to realize what a P.R. disaster they’ve got on their hands here, once the major media are forced to start reporting this story. 

The person in the PayPal “Acceptable Usage” department who threw the word “hate” at Pamela Geller is likely to have a very bad Monday at the office.

Category: Atlas Shrugs, Blogging, Terrorism

Comments

68 Responses to “Terrorist Jihad vs. the Tip Jar”

  1. Grimcargo
    June 13th, 2010 @ 7:49 am

    I cancelled my account with Pay Pal yesterday. Pamela cannot let this pass. The implications are far more reaching than just having her account cancelled and everybody that has a blog ought to pay attention
    The people Pamela has pissed off are so vile and vicious Not just terrorist either.Jilted ponytails and braindead liberals. She needs to file a suit and make them come out of hiding.

  2. sharmajee
    June 13th, 2010 @ 1:11 pm

    Jihadism just won – and Freedom lost -two rounds, between youtube dropping Latma videos of Caroline Glick and, Paypal’s action against Pamela Geller. Where are the so-called liberals, the ACLU, the feminists? The surreal quality of these attacks on Freedom of Speech would be laughable, if they weren’t so actual. The Left must be dancing with glee!

    Curbing voices by hiding behind ‘terms of contract’ has been done before. But the latest, the decision by Paypal to muzzle Pamela Geller while pandering to the true voices of hate on the other side, is truly unwarranted, draconian, and ultimately, a chilling act.

    I want to stand by Pam Geller. She speaks for patriotic Americans who value Freedom, Liberty and Culture. Paypal has just gone too far. Small fry blogs that don’t depend on ads nor seek donations, as well as consumers who don’t need to use eBay, all will do well to stop using Paypal.

    Come Monday, it’s bye bye, paypal for me. But not before giving them an earful. The convenience ain’t worth the stain!

  3. sharmajee
    June 13th, 2010 @ 9:11 am

    Jihadism just won – and Freedom lost -two rounds, between youtube dropping Latma videos of Caroline Glick and, Paypal’s action against Pamela Geller. Where are the so-called liberals, the ACLU, the feminists? The surreal quality of these attacks on Freedom of Speech would be laughable, if they weren’t so actual. The Left must be dancing with glee!

    Curbing voices by hiding behind ‘terms of contract’ has been done before. But the latest, the decision by Paypal to muzzle Pamela Geller while pandering to the true voices of hate on the other side, is truly unwarranted, draconian, and ultimately, a chilling act.

    I want to stand by Pam Geller. She speaks for patriotic Americans who value Freedom, Liberty and Culture. Paypal has just gone too far. Small fry blogs that don’t depend on ads nor seek donations, as well as consumers who don’t need to use eBay, all will do well to stop using Paypal.

    Come Monday, it’s bye bye, paypal for me. But not before giving them an earful. The convenience ain’t worth the stain!

  4. Virginia Right! News Hound for 6/13/2010 | Virginia Right!
    June 13th, 2010 @ 9:21 am

    […] Terrorist Jihad vs. the Tip Jar […]

  5. Karen Howes
    June 13th, 2010 @ 2:15 pm

    @Just A Conservative Girl: I hate to say it, but we can’t trust Muslims, period, even ones that seem “nice.” I’ve met and worked with “nice” Muslims who, when the subject of Islamic terrorists came up, expressed support for them.

    Ask any of these “nice” Muslims outright if they condemn Hamas or Hezbollah, and I bet very, very few of them– if any– will.

  6. Karen Howes
    June 13th, 2010 @ 10:15 am

    @Just A Conservative Girl: I hate to say it, but we can’t trust Muslims, period, even ones that seem “nice.” I’ve met and worked with “nice” Muslims who, when the subject of Islamic terrorists came up, expressed support for them.

    Ask any of these “nice” Muslims outright if they condemn Hamas or Hezbollah, and I bet very, very few of them– if any– will.

  7. I say Alinsky them… « DaTechguy's Blog
    June 13th, 2010 @ 11:07 am

    […] these sites that get paypal funding and sue paypal for each site that is kept up. Stacy continues on his site about foreign money: Read the rest of that – not just the foreign money, but Carnegie, Rockefeller, Ford, a […]

  8. richard mcenroe
    June 13th, 2010 @ 5:07 pm

    Check out using VEROTEL instead of PayPal.

  9. richard mcenroe
    June 13th, 2010 @ 1:07 pm

    Check out using VEROTEL instead of PayPal.

  10. Farewell Paypal, until you fix this problem | Political Byline
    June 13th, 2010 @ 1:31 pm

    […] Pajamas Media, Comments from Left Field, alicublog, The Jawa Report, Jihad Watch, Israel Matzav, The Other McCain, five feet of fury., Jay Currie and American Power SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Farewell Paypal, […]

  11. Roxeanne de Luca
    June 14th, 2010 @ 3:22 am

    Beyond stupid question: would it be possible for Pam to set up a cell phone text number? You know how you can text “Haiti” to some number and it donates $10… can a private person set that up without incurring a huge expense?

  12. Roxeanne de Luca
    June 13th, 2010 @ 11:22 pm

    Beyond stupid question: would it be possible for Pam to set up a cell phone text number? You know how you can text “Haiti” to some number and it donates $10… can a private person set that up without incurring a huge expense?

  13. Paypal finds calls for Jihad acceptable, but Atlas Shrugs is banned for being a ‘hate site’
    June 14th, 2010 @ 1:44 am

    […] UPDATE: McCain over at the Spectator: PayPal.com Targets Conservative Blog as ‘Hate’ Site and here too. […]

  14. Conservative Muslim
    June 14th, 2010 @ 10:36 am

    Karen Howes and Estragon, your ignorance of Al-Qur’an Al-Kareem is astounding. As far as the Paypal actions, while I don’t necessarily support them, it’s hard for me to get angry over lessening the ability of an ignorant sensationalist like Gellar and all the others who obsess about “Islamization” “dhimmitude” and “jihadis” to beg for money. Less focus on the real threats to America: the socialist wannabes in Washington and the indoctrination of our children in government schools.

  15. Conservative Muslim
    June 14th, 2010 @ 6:36 am

    Karen Howes and Estragon, your ignorance of Al-Qur’an Al-Kareem is astounding. As far as the Paypal actions, while I don’t necessarily support them, it’s hard for me to get angry over lessening the ability of an ignorant sensationalist like Gellar and all the others who obsess about “Islamization” “dhimmitude” and “jihadis” to beg for money. Less focus on the real threats to America: the socialist wannabes in Washington and the indoctrination of our children in government schools.

  16. The St. Angilbert Press » Old and busted: YouTube jihad. New hotness: PayPal jihad?
    June 14th, 2010 @ 10:46 pm

    […] This is concerning; it would seem that online Islamism is taking the next step in silencing its enemies and critics and going after their PayPal accounts. […]

  17. Pamela Geller Triumphs! : The Other McCain
    June 15th, 2010 @ 9:53 am

    […] Arthur KoestlerPamela Geller Triumphs!Posted on | June 15, 2010 | No CommentsYou recall the weekend uproar over PayPal’s attempt to cancel Pamela Geller’s account. Well, Monday morning CAIR […]

  18. Flailing Might Just Recover Additional Oil : The Other McCain
    June 19th, 2010 @ 5:31 pm

    […] chemotherapy for us all. Pamela Geller For SECDEF?[Image of a fistful of flogged Flags flapping.] Terrorist Jihad vs. the Tip JarSoylent GreenVA RightDaTechguyPolitical BylineThe Saint Angilbert PressPaco EnterprisesPamela Geller […]