While other payment firms conduct business with individuals in the occupied territories, PayPal exclusively provides services to Israelis in the region
A group of eleven US Congress members, led by Representative Mark Pocan, has urged PayPal to end its ban on Palestinian businesses in the occupied territories. They have raised concerns about discriminatory practices, arguing that PayPal’s disparate treatment, permitting Israeli settlers to use the platform while denying access to Palestinians, infringes upon the Palestinians’ right to equal participation in the digital economy.
Ahead of PayPal’s annual stockholder meeting this Wednesday, CEO Dan Schulman received a letter from Congress members, including Representatives Earl Blumenauer, Betty McCollum, Rashida Tlaib, Greg Casar, and others. The letter questions PayPal’s decision to specifically target residents of the Palestinian territories, despite its operations in other conflict-ridden regions like Yemen and Somalia. While other financial service providers like Visa, Mastercard, and Apple Pay operate seamlessly in the West Bank and Gaza, PayPal categorizes the area as “high risk” without publicly justifying this decision.
Palestinian business owners are drawing parallels between the PayPal ban and Israeli checkpoints, emphasizing its negative impact on economic growth, especially since many other platforms, including eBay, rely on the payment service. During PayPal’s shareholder meeting, Harrington Investments, an ethical investment firm founded by John Harrington known for advocating US corporate divestment from apartheid South Africa, submitted a proposal. The proposal urges PayPal’s board to establish a policy preventing discriminatory exclusion from financial services for individuals in conflict zones, including Palestine. If PayPal declines to implement such a policy, the proposal requests an assessment of its impact on affected populations, as well as the company’s financials, operations, and reputation.
PayPal has appealed to its shareholders, encouraging them to vote against the proposal. Sam Bahour, a Palestinian American businessman, plans to inform attendees during the shareholder meeting that his companies have collaborated with the governments of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the European Union but are unable to use PayPal. Bahour, a founder of the Palestine Telecommunications Company, highlighted that major companies like Cisco, HP, and Oracle operate within the Palestinian territories.
According to a transcript of his prepared speech, Bahour expressed, “Equally, it is widely acknowledged that Palestine has a thriving banking sector, and all Palestinian banks have forged collaborations with US banks for daily financial transactions. The US Treasury Department is actively involved in Palestine and has lauded the commendable level of compliance demonstrated by Palestinian banks.
Following the partnership announcement, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee posed a question to PayPal, asking, “Do you have plans to address organizations that offer financial assistance to settler groups engaged in violent actions against Palestinians?” This inquiry pertains to registered charitable organizations in the United States that annually donate substantial sums to support settlers involved in activities widely acknowledged as war crimes under the Geneva Conventions, including the displacement of Palestinians from their land.