John, Every morning starting at 3am, tens of thousands of Palestinians start crossing Israeli military checkpoints to get to work. It can take hours. And too often, the endless wait can turn violent as people are crushed by crowds or shot by soldiers. Meanwhile, Palestinians who Freelance online run into another problem: they can’t get paid. The world’s biggest online payment platform, PayPal, won’t serve Palestinians living in Israeli-occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip. It’s clear discrimination – Israelis living in the illegal settlements in the very same locations are allowed to create PayPal accounts. But there may be progress – we have heard from multiple sources in the last month that PayPal may be taking steps to provide service to all Palestinians. The Israeli occupation makes it next to impossible for Palestinians to make ends meet. Unemployment is a shocking 48% in Gaza, so many Palestinians are desperately seeking other options like launching local digital ventures or doing freelance work online to get by. There is no reason for PayPal to continue this discrimination – it’s competitor, Apple Pay, serves Palestinians. Yet, PayPal continues discrimination against Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza in direct violation of UN guidelines. SumOfUs members like you made a huge difference in getting Ben & Jerry’s to be the first large global corporation to pull out of the illegally Occupied Palestinian Territory in years. Multiple sources within the company said the ten of thousands of you that took action had a huge impact in this decision. So we know we can push PayPal to join Ben & Jerry's to be on the right side of Palestinian justice. This is why, we have joined forces with Palestinian digital rights group, 7amleh, to call out PayPal’s failure to operate in Palestine. If we reach 200,000 signatures – we will deliver your message to PayPal in person.  Thanks for all that you do, More information: Palestinians urge PayPal to offer services in West Bank and Gaza Reuters. 21 October 2021. |
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