Eleven members of the US Congress called on the American company PayPal to end its ban on dealing with Palestinians in the occupied territories while the banking company allows Israeli settlers to use the digital payment platform.

The letter, written by Democratic Rep. Mark Pocan (R-W), says PayPal discriminates against Palestinians by denying them equal access to the digital economy.

"We have serious concerns that because PayPal provides services to Israeli citizens in illegal settlements across the West Bank, but does not provide services to Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, PayPal's current operational status may violate the rights of Palestinians," the letter says, according to the Guardian newspaper. ; As one of the most popular payment platforms in the world, PayPal has a responsibility to ensure that its services and operations are provided in a non-discriminatory manner.

The letter was sent to Dan Schulman, CEO of PayPal, ahead of the company's annual shareholder meeting on Wednesday. It was also signed by Representatives Earl Blumenauer (D-Oregon), Rep. Betty McCollum (D-Minnesota), Rep. Rashida Tlaib (R-Michigan), Rep. Greg Cassar (R-Texas), and others.

PayPal did not publicly explain why it excluded Palestinians in the occupied Palestinian territories in providing financial services to them, at a time when other companies such as Visa, Mastercard and Apple Pay provide these services in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip without problems. It also (PayPal) acts as a payment platform in other conflict zones, including Yemen and Somalia.

According to the Guardian: “Palestinian business owners liken PayPal’s ban on them to Israeli checkpoints that control movement, saying it stifles economic development because many other platforms use PayPal’s service, such as eBay and others.”

The socially responsible investment firm, Harrington Investments, founded by John Harrington, who has been at the forefront of lobbying for the divestment of American companies from apartheid South Africa, has submitted a proposal to a PayPal shareholder meeting from It would "establish a policy to ensure that people in conflict zones, such as Palestine, do not suffer discriminatory exclusion from the company's financial services." .

The proposal states that if PayPal does not want to enforce the policy, it must "submit an assessment of the economic impact of the exclusion policy on the affected population as well as on the company's finances, operations, and reputation."

However, PayPal urged PayPal shareholders to vote against the proposal.

The Guardian newspaper said that the Palestinian-American businessman, Sam Bahour, intends to tell the meeting of shareholders that his companies have worked with the governments of the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union, but they cannot use PayPal. Bahour, the founder of the Palestinian Telecommunications Company, indicated that companies such as Cisco, HP, and Oracle operate in the Palestinian territories.

“Similarly, the fact is that Palestine has a thriving banking sector and all Palestinian banks have corresponding US banks that transfer funds daily. The US Treasury Department is also active in Palestine, and has praised the level of Palestinian banking compliance,” Bahour added.

In 2021, PayPal partnered with the staunchly pro-Israel Anti-Defamation League to investigate “hate group funding.”

Palestinian groups accuse the Anti-Defamation League of conflating the Palestinian rights campaign with extremism and anti-Semitism.

It is noteworthy that the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) had asked Paypal, when announcing the partnership between it and ADL, whether it would pursue organizations that finance settler terrorism against the Palestinians? A reference to the US-registered charities that send tens of millions of dollars annually that fund settlers driving Palestinians off their land and other activities widely considered war crimes under the Geneva Conventions.

The organization asked: "Are they going to stop the organizations that support the theft of Palestinian land? ... Or are the extremists just people your new business partner doesn't like?".