Eleven Members of the United States Congress sent a letter to PayPal CEO Dan Schulman on Thursday, urging the company to open up services to Palestinians in the occupied territory.

This letter, signed by Representatives Mark Pocan, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, Betty McCollum, Pramila Jayapal, Greg Casar, Earl Blumenauer, Jamaal Bowman, Jim McGovern, Sara Jacobs, and Cori Bush, was sent in collaboration with 7amleh – The Arab Center for the Advancement of Social Media.

The initiative is part of the bigger PayPal4Palestine Campaign efforts, which were launched in 2016 in collaboration with several organizations.

The campaign points out that PayPal currently provides services throughout the state of Israel, and even to Jewish settlers living in the illegal settlements in the West Bank, but does not allow Palestinians to access its services in what seemingly appears to be discriminatory business practices.

Denying Palestinians access to PayPal’s services affects the Palestinians’ rights to access livelihood and work opportunities and participate in the development of their economy, said 7amleh in a press statement.

Furthermore, Mastercard, Visa, Swift, and Apple Pay have all entered the Palestinian market with no problems, so there does not seem to be any foreseeable barriers to entry for PayPal, it added.

(PC, WAFA)