SoundCloud has removed an account linked to the Popular Conference for Palestinians Abroad (PCPA) after being notified that the organisation had been designated by United States authorities.
UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) wrote to SoundCloud’s compliance department highlighting that PCPA had been designated by the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) a month earlier, on 21 January 2026, and yet the PCPA podcasts were still available.
The US announcement stated that the PCPA was being designated “for being owned, controlled, or directed by, or for having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, Hamas.”
The US announcement also explained that the PCPA is “a main organizer of recent flotillas that sought to break Israel’s security cordon around Gaza. The PCPA is also clandestinely acting on behalf of Hamas. As a front organization for Hamas, it operates in accordance with Hamas directives and was established and managed by operatives from Hamas’s Bureau of International Relations, which at the time was led by Mussa Abu Marzouq.”
PCPA hosted podcasts on the Soundcloud platform under the name “PalesAbroad”
Although SoundCloud has its headquarters in Berlin, Germany, it maintains offices in the United States, including in New York and Los Angeles, and is therefore subject to US sanctions regulations.
UKLFI warned that service providers could face exposure to sanctions if they provide services to designated or blocked persons under OFAC rules. Following the complaint, the PCPA podcast account is no longer accessible on SoundCloud.
A spokesperson for UKLFI commented: “Online platforms cannot turn a blind eye to sanctions designations. Once an organisation has been formally designated by the US authorities for acting on behalf of Hamas, service providers with a US presence have clear legal obligations. We welcome SoundCloud’s swift action in removing this account and expect all digital platforms to ensure they are not providing services to entities linked designated accounts.”
The PCPA made a statement on their website (which has now been taken down), but which was reported in Middle East Eye as follows:
“The Popular Conference for Palestinians Abroad (PCPA) has expressed “profound dismay” and “unequivocal rejection” of a decision by the US Department of the Treasury to sanction it over alleged Hamas ties.
In a statement on Saturday [24th January 2026], the PCPA said the designation is a unilateral administrative measure, not based on any judicial ruling or binding international resolution.It insisted that the decision does not affect the legitimacy of the conference’s work, which it says is carried out in full compliance with the legal frameworks of the countries in which it operates. The organisation described the move as part of a “continued pattern of political targeting against Palestinian structures and organisations operating abroad”, particularly amid growing international solidarity with Palestinians during the Israeli war on Gaza.”
The PCPA reaffirmed its commitment to continue its peaceful, rights-based activities, stating that Palestine remains its “moral and political compass” and that efforts to distort or defame it will not undermine the justice of the Palestinian cause.”