The IWW's Freelance Journalists Union is reporting that its fundraiser benefiting the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate has been shut down.
I previously posted about this fundraiser; its intent was solely to finance safety equipment for PJS journalists. As the now-inaccessible fundraiser wrote:
To protect journalists, the PJS requires media outlets to provide safety vests, helmets and gas masks for employees, but this equipment is often unavailable to freelancers. The IWW PPWU-FJU is therefore fundraising to provide the PJS with 50 such kits for freelancers. We encourage all journalists, union members and others to support the PJS by contributing to this fundraiser and sharing widely both the fundraiser and the PJS’s most recent statement on the current war (below).
Prior to being shut down on December 7, the Freelance Journalists Union says $26,644.45 had been raised. $20,564.24 of this was successfully provided to PJS; but, according to the union, "GoFundMe now refuses to release the remaining $6,080.21 pledged by donors, citing unspecified “laws and regulations.”" They go on to say that:
Over the course of the fundraiser, the IWW FJU received a dozen requests for further information from GoFundMe, all of which were answered as thoroughly and in as timely a manner as possible, given the ongoing war. The decision by GoFundMe to nevertheless shut down the fundraiser can only be understood as part of the mass repression currently targeting all those demonstrating solidarity with the people of Palestine.
Appealing the decision and/or legal recourse is being explored, but no updates on that front have been given that I can immediately find. In the meantime, FJU encourages all supporters of their fundraiser to instead donate to the IFJ Safety Fund, which is also routing its donations to PJS.