Watchdogs Warn Payment Processors of OFAC Risk Over Hamas Front Group
UKLFI and Zachor Legal Institute welcome SoundCloud and GoDaddy's removal of "Popular Conference for Palestinians Abroad" pages but warn that major platforms continue servicing the organization
Following Jewish Onliner's investigation documenting widespread compliance failures by major U.S. platforms, watchdog organizations have raised concerns that payment processors and financial services companies face potential enforcement action for continuing to host infrastructure linked to the OFAC-designated Hamas network Popular Conference for Palestinians Abroad (PCPA). GoDaddy removed PCPA's website and SoundCloud took down the organization's podcast channel, yet critical enforcement gaps persist across the financial services sector.
The United Kingdom Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) noted the recent platform removals: “We welcome compliance by GoDaddy, and also by Soundcloud, which has removed PCPA’s podcast, following our letter to them.”
UKLFI stated. The organization then flagged ongoing risks for remaining service providers: "However, several online service providers continue to host Birawi and the PCPA and by continuing to do so despite their designation, they lay themselves open to huge fines by OFAC."
In a statement to Jewish Onliner, The Zachor Legal Institute confirmed it has sent formal requests to all four major payment processors identified in Jewish Onliner’s reporting: “We’re aware of this issue and have sent requests to the financial service providers (GoFundMe, Mastercard, Visa and PayPal). Those providers generally do not provide updates on specific actions being taken.”
Systematic Exploitation of Regulatory Gaps
Zachor emphasized that this enforcement failure follows a documented pattern. The organization previously sent a detailed memo to Congress outlining how terrorist organizations systematically exploit OFAC enforcement gaps and Internal Revenue Service loopholes to access U.S. financial infrastructure. According to Zachor’s assessment, these vulnerabilities have been visible to policymakers for years, yet remediation has remained incomplete.
Ongoing PCPA Operations Across Major Platforms
Jewish Onliner’s February 10 investigation documented that despite the January 2026 Treasury designation, PCPA maintains active social media presence on X with over 10,400 followers. U.S.-sanctioned PCPA operative Zaher Birawi maintains a personal X account with over 6,000 followers and an active LinkedIn profile with 161 connections. More critically, fundraising infrastructure for the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC)—an organization for which Birawi serves as a founding member—continues operating through PayPal, GoFundMe, Visa, and Mastercard payment systems as of mid-February 2026.
The removals by GoDaddy and SoundCloud demonstrate that at least some platforms are taking action on designated entities. However, the persistence of PCPA fundraising infrastructure across major payment processors suggests that compliance remains inconsistent across the platform ecosystem.