(WASHINGTON, D.C., 5/25/2023) – The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today supported a call by 11 members of Congress for PayPal to end its discriminatory ban on doing business with Palestinians in the occupied territories, while at the same time permitting illegal Israeli settlers to use the payment platform.
SEE: US Congress members demand that PayPal end ban on Palestinian business
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/may/24/paypal-palestine-ban-us-congress-
Authored by Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI), the letter states in part:
“We have significant concerns that, because PayPal does provide 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, PayPal’s current operating status may be infringing upon the rights of Palestinians.”
In a statement, CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell said:
“We support the congressional call for PayPal to end its discriminatory policy that bans Palestinians suffering under occupation from using the company for financial transactions even as settlers living in illegal Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian land can do so. This a racist, harmful policy, and it must end.”
Mitchell added that recently, CAIR urged all Americans to take part in its click-and-send action alert asking members of the U.S. House of Representatives to co-sponsor and support Congresswoman Betty McCollum’s (D-MN) recently reintroduced “Defending the Human Rights of Palestinian Children and Families Living Under Israeli Military Occupation Act.” The bill is co-sponsored by 16 additional members of congress.
He also noted that CAIR welcomed a congressional letter led by Representative Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) and Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), joined by 12 members of Congress, urging President Biden to better ensure the human rights of Palestinians and guarantee that U.S. military funding to the extreme right-wing apartheid Israeli government does not support human rights violations.
CAIR has previously called on the Biden administration to stand up to the new Israeli government composed of openly racist and genocidal far-right politicians.
Last year, CAIR welcomed an investigation by a UN commission of inquiry into the Israeli government’s system of apartheid against Palestinians.
In an open letter, five former European ministers labeled Israel’s policies against Palestinians as “the crime of apartheid.” Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the Presbyterian Church USA have labeled Israel an apartheid state. The UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing also recognized that Israel is committing apartheid against Palestinians.
A group of Israeli law professors says changes introduced by the current far-right Israeli government “validate the claim that Israel practices apartheid.”
CAIR’s mission is to protect civil rights, enhance understanding of Islam, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.
La misión de CAIR es proteger las libertades civiles, mejorar la comprensión del Islam, promover la justicia, y empoderar a los musulmanes en los Estados Unidos.
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CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, rmccaw@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Coordinator Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, iallison@cair.com