Former Waratahs and Wallabies star Israel Folau has this afternoon slammed crowdfunding website GoFundMe after their decision to shut down his campaign to fund his legal battle against Rugby Australia.
The statement from Folau’s camp stated it was a disappointing decision and said that GoFundMe had buckled to demand.
“The decision of GoFundMe to cancel Israel’s fundraising campaign to support his Legal Action Fund is very disappointing,” read Folau’s statement.
“The fundraising campaign was in line with GoFundMe’s Terms and Conditions as well as all relevant rules and regulations.
“Unfortunately, GoFundMe has buckled to demands against the freedom of Australians to donate to his cause.
“There appears to be a continuing campaign of discrimination against Israel and his supporters,” the statement read.
“Israel Folau is very grateful to the 10,000 plus supporters who believed in good faith that their donations would contribute to his case against Rugby Australia.”
The statement also said that several organisations had expressed interest in helping Folau, although didn’t give any further details.
“Thankfully, several organisations have already expressed interest in supporting Israel’s efforts to raise money for his ongoing legal case,” read Folau’s statement.
Folau was controversially sacked by Rugby Australia earlier this year after posting an image on social media, and on appeal, it was found he had committed the high-level breach, which saw his contract torn up.
GoFundMe took the campaign down on account of it not falling into their terms and conditions, which are stated on their website, and include a disclaimer that they have sole discretion over campaigns.
“Campaigns we deem, in our sole discretion, to be in support of, or for the legal defense of alleged crimes associated with hate, violence, harassment, bullying, discrimination, terrorism, or intolerance of any kind relating to race, ethnicity, national origin, religious affiliation, sexual orientation, sex, gender or gender identity, or serious disabilities or diseases.”
The utility back has been criticised heavily for starting the crowdfunding campaign given his financial status, and according to the statement from Folau’s spokesperson, his website has also come under attack.
“Further, Israel’s website has been the target of what we believe was a sustained cyberattack and there has been a deliberate and attempt to vilify his wife Maria for supporting her husband.”
It’s not yet known when Folau will take the next step in his action against Rugby Australia.
Timbo (L)
Roar Guru
Thinking outside the box, We should encourage the fundraising campaigns. If the money ends up paying RA's court costs it has got to be a good thing.
Timbo (L)
Roar Guru
Being Gay, Athiest, or female may make you lesser in the eyes of your deity but the Law disagrees.
Kewl
Guest
It’s an unfortunate reality of life
Kewl
Guest
Equal rights for all doesn’t work when everyone on this earth is not equal, if you can’t see lesser beings with your own eyes you have issues.
Gee
Roar Rookie
Its nearly 2.1 million now, GoFundMe was a waste of his time.
scubasteve
Guest
you might not find 'a certain level of christianity' but you most certainly would find "a certain level of faith' of which christianity in some countries makes up a large portion of that population. so the questions that will be asked an answered need a legal answer and of course this is forthcoming however the fabric of law does not necessarily equal the cloth of public opinion. Folau can easily say if he wins that the settlement will be returned back to charities etc which would save a lot of conjuncture around his gofundme. I would like to point out that Christians in a pure sense are not in the belief that they hate someone. It's supposed to be all love. So the hate speech thing isn't going to hold up I don't believe. Also, if he is the one taking them to court is it over the breach of contract where contract law applies or is he going after a different part of the law?
runfatboyrun
Roar Rookie
But you make a really good point, next time I’ll add an appendix and put it in the footnotes. ????
runfatboyrun
Roar Rookie
Ah... no. The commonly understood quote accurately depicts Voltaire’s ideas. That’s why it was written by a woman who translated his work from French to English. In other words, it was an elegant/poetic English summation of a French author written by his English translates. There’s a reason it’s a famous quote: it’s accurate and insightful.
Smiggle Jiggle
Roar Guru
or the Vegan activist asking to cover criminal court cost.
Sage
Roar Rookie
So you're content to use the Bible as your inarguable reference at the same time as warning us about being aware of the difficulties in translating the bible to English.
Sage
Roar Rookie
Probably should have googled it before you committed yourself the first time hey.
runfatboyrun
Roar Rookie
I know. He spoke French. It’s attributed to his English translator (Beatrice someone). She was paraphrasing voltaire’s commitment to civil rights and free speech. Similarly, any Bible arguments must be aware of koine Greek - English translation difficulties. https://quoteinvestigator.com/2015/06/01/defend-say/
runfatboyrun
Roar Rookie
An employer who was acquiescing to ‘the mob’ (peter fitzsimons, twitterati, Fairfax etc).
runfatboyrun
Roar Rookie
I know... it’s called paraphrasing. And paraphrasing is what started this brew-ha-ha
runfatboyrun
Roar Rookie
Hilarious. Thank you.
runfatboyrun
Roar Rookie
I read their terms and conditions. Fundraising is for both people and causes. You know, like the filthy rich senator Hansen young soliciting funds to pursue legal action against David Lleyonhem...
ajg
Guest
But your point relies on biblical literalism. This wont work because the bible is paradoxical. It contains passages that say both X and not-X. All biblical literalists like Izzy are selective in which bits they decide to follow and claim are the word of god. He and his church have decided to keep the homophobia. Are they also justified to stone people to death and keep slaves? It is nonsense to try and use this as a defence for hate speech: "I am allowed to abuse gay people because my invisible friend told me to" - give me a break
JP
Guest
Over 600K already .Nice work from the ACL. Unfortunately all that money will go to paying all IF`s lawyers and RA court costs when they lose.
Gray-Hand
Roar Rookie
Or, people could just be a bit more polite about what parts of it they bang on about in public or at work.
JP
Guest
Hopefully GoFundme sue Folau for breaching their terms and conditions, which are stated on their website, i will donate to that.