In 2017, Israel found out that Western Union was being used to fund terrorism through a campaign called "equip a mujahid," aimed at supporting Hezbollah, a group labeled as terrorists by the U.S. since 2006.
This campaign was advertised on a Qatari news site, The New Arab, with messages encouraging people to look up to see Hezbollah's weapons in the sky, symbolizing their power.
The campaign asked for donations to be sent to the Islamic Resistance Support Organization (IRSO) via Western Union and Whish, a money transfer service. IRSO uses accounts in Al-Qard al-Hassan, which is like a bank for Hezbollah, and this was targeted by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF).
Whish has 900 branches across Lebanon and is owned by Syrian nationals.
According to the Jerusalem Post, IRSO told people to use these money transfer services as a way to secretly fund their activities.
Whish offers domestic and international financial solutions, including money transfer services, currency exchange, e-wallets, and investments.
Israel uncovered Western Union’s role as a vehicle for terrorism funding in 2017 when it exposed the “equip a mujahid” campaign.
In response to questions about its platform being used to channel money to terrorists, Western Union said in a statement, “We take our regulatory and compliance responsibilities very seriously, including our role in the fight against terrorist financing. To that effect, we have programs in place that screen Western Union transactions against internal and government watch lists.”
Western Union added, “Our internal Financial Intelligence Unit pursues intelligence leads and analysis about a broad range of global terror groups. We remain committed to working closely with governments and law enforcement authorities to continue addressing terrorist financing activities.”
Whish Money cooperates with several companies across the globe, including Mastercard, US-based Ria Money Transfer and Sendwave, and UK-based Shift Transfer.
Whish provides various financial services like sending money within Lebanon or overseas, changing currencies, using electronic wallets, and making investments.
In 2017, Israel discovered that Western Union was being used to send money to terrorists through a campaign called "equip a mujahid."
When asked about this, Western Union responded by saying that they are very serious about following the rules and fighting against funding terrorism. They have systems to check transactions against lists of known terrorists.
Western Union also mentioned that their special unit works on gathering information and analyzing the activities of many terrorist groups worldwide. They are dedicated to cooperating with governments and police to stop funding for terrorism.
Whish collaborates with various international companies, including Mastercard, Ria Money Transfer, Sendwave from the US, and Shift Transfer from the UK.
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