Entrepreneur Paul Graham and Israeli-Arab blogger Nuseir Yassin, founder of Nas Daily, clashed on social media over allegations that employees of Doctors Without Borders (MSF) had links to Palestinian terrorist organizations.
The exchange followed a report by The Daily Telegraph that UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) had called on British Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood to proscribe MSF and had asked the Home Office, Charity Commission, and Fundraising Regulator to investigate alleged connections between MSF personnel and Palestinian terrorist groups.
Graham came to the defense of MSF, describing it as “one of the most upstanding nonprofits in the world."
“This tells us all we need to know about UK Lawyers for Israel," Graham wrote on X. “Ask anyone in global health. So if you find yourself attacking them, it's evidence that you are evil."
Yassin responded directly to Graham, accusing the entrepreneur's activism of harming Palestinians and empowering extremists.
“You will block me after this reply. Paul, you have hurt my Palestinian cause," Yassin wrote. “My family and I have been Arab, Muslim, and Palestinian for centuries."
According to Yassin, activism of the kind promoted by Graham had “empowered extremists amongst us" by encouraging them to believe that terrorism could win sympathy from prominent Western figures.
“You have what we call the soft bigotry of low expectations. You expect so little of us. You think we are always victims and never wrong," Yassin charged.
He further argued that Palestinian extremism had harmed Palestinian Arabs seeking peaceful coexistence with Israel.
“You masquerade everything under ‘humanity’, yet you fail to see that Palestinian extremism has denied humanity to millions of Palestinians who just want to live in peace with Israel and just get a job that pays well and send their kids to college," he wrote.
“You made that dream a little bit harder to attain for Palestinians," Yassin added, concluding: “Enjoy your billions of dollars. Thanks for nothing. And see you in another simulation. Free Palestine from simpleton Westerners."
The Telegraph report that prompted Graham's comments cited a UKLFI report alleging connections between MSF employees and terrorists, including Fadi Jihad Mohammed al-Wadiya, a physiotherapist who worked for MSF and was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City in June 2024.
According to the report, MSF initially rejected allegations that Wadiya was involved with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terrorist organization. In February 2026, however, PIJ published material identifying Wadiya as a commander and as the deputy head of its military manufacturing unit.
Following the PIJ announcement, MSF updated its statement regarding Wadiya, acknowledging that the terrorist organization had publicly identified him as a member. The organization maintained that it had no indication before his death that he was involved in military activity and said Israeli authorities had not provided it with such information.
“We would never knowingly employ people engaging in military activity," MSF stated.
The UKLFI report also raised allegations concerning Nasser Hamdi Abdelatif Al Shalfouh, an MSF driver whom Israel has accused of serving as a sniper in Hamas' Jabaliya battalion. According to The Telegraph, MSF has not addressed the allegations concerning Shalfouh.
UKLFI also questioned whether MSF UK had sufficient safeguards to prevent charitable funds from benefiting individuals associated with proscribed terrorist organizations. According to the report, MSF UK raised £11.3 million in 2023, with approximately £1 million designated for projects in the Palestinian territories. The amount designated for such projects rose to £2.7 million in 2024.
UKLFI said it had asked the Charity Commission and Fundraising Regulator to investigate MSF UK and had submitted its evidence to the Home Secretary for consideration under the Terrorism Act.
MSF rejected allegations that it knowingly employed individuals connected to terrorism, saying it “would never knowingly employ anyone involved in military activities."
The organization also said the Israeli allegations regarding the employees in question were communicated to MSF only after their deaths and accused its critics of conducting a “disinformation campaign."
The Charity Commission told The Telegraph that it takes alleged connections between charities and terrorism or unlawful extremism seriously and was assessing concerns regarding MSF UK and its trustees.
The Fundraising Regulator similarly confirmed that it had received a complaint concerning MSF and was assessing it under the Code of Fundraising Practice.