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US lawmakers urge PayPal to end ban on Palestinians in Occupied Territories

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Re: US lawmakers urge PayPal to end ban on Palestinians in Occupied Territories

#141

Post by f6v »

vxNsr wrote: post #117
hutzlibu wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"I don't understand the confusion on this topic. One side will pay the family of a suicide bomber that murders innocent civilians, the other won't. It's not complicated" Not complicated? Just compare the civilian casualties on both sides. Afaik they are way higher on the palestine side. When the IDF bombs a refugee camp, to take out one terrorist, they still consistently hit bystanders. And before the IDF was militar…

There are many more Israeli civilian casualties as a result of terrorist action. Though there are Palestinians who have been killed by Palestinian terrorists as well. But I would add them to the tally of civilians casualties of palestinian terror. Not clear where you’re getting that more palestinians have died from terrorism. The IDF doesn’t regularly bomb refugee camps to take out one terrorist. They often have prec…

> the Arabs take every chance they get to murder Jews.

And this, my friends, is the problem. Blanket statements aka racism. There’s no way to end a conflict peacefully if that’s the dominant point of view.

Re: US lawmakers urge PayPal to end ban on Palestinians in Occupied Territories

#142

Post by lesuorac »

redditwhat wrote: post #38
lesuorac wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Literally do a web search for any first world country and domestic terrorism and you'll find an instance of it. The argument you have made also implies that USA should be disconnected from PayPal.

Is it really domestic when the effective governing body in Gaza and some of the West Bank is Hamas? Should we not sanction countries ruled by terrorist organizations?

> Should we not sanction countries ruled by terrorist organizations?

Correct.

The punishment should fit the crime. Being born in a location run by a terrorist organization is not a crime.

This idea of group punishment is a very slippery slope and I believe you've already slide down it. As I pointed out in the previous comment, there are domestic terrorists in the US. And I'll go even further, members of the US current government have argued that other members of that government attempted a coup. Can't get much stronger claims of being ran by a terrorist organization than that.

A good example of sanctions is the recent US ones vs Russia. It's almost entirely targeted towards individuals and property/companies associated with those individuals who promote/support invading Ukraine. (War being the crime, sanctions being the punishment).

w.r.t. PayPal, afaik they're not the only payments organization so I'm fine with them not providing service as it's not like the Palestinian's have no alternative. (As opposed to say the only grocery store in a region refusing to sell food to a homosexual).

Re: US lawmakers urge PayPal to end ban on Palestinians in Occupied Territories

#143

Post by philippejara »

redditwhat wrote: post #38
lesuorac wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Literally do a web search for any first world country and domestic terrorism and you'll find an instance of it. The argument you have made also implies that USA should be disconnected from PayPal.

Is it really domestic when the effective governing body in Gaza and some of the West Bank is Hamas? Should we not sanction countries ruled by terrorist organizations?

As long as the one deciding that is the US, the one that conveniently ignores the deeds of their allies in the region when they're not busy themselves destabilizing it and toppling their heads of state, no.

Re: US lawmakers urge PayPal to end ban on Palestinians in Occupied Territories

#144

Post by johngladtj »

causi wrote: post #130

People forget that just because a payment services is so entrenched and powerful that many people think of it more like a public utility doesn't mean it isn't just as amoral as any other company. Visa has shattered entire industries on a whim by deciding it was simply more profitable not to service certain classes of people or professions. Somehow they're allowed to do that. We need common-carrier rules for payment p…

Have you considered that regulation is what causes those issues?

Re: US lawmakers urge PayPal to end ban on Palestinians in Occupied Territories

#145

Post by hgsgm »

f6v wrote: post #136
vxNsr wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Before all this they had legal and fair election where they elected a terrorist org: Hamas. Stop infantilizing an entire people. They are adults with their own agency. They are responsible for the decisions they make. The reason a terrorist group runs things there is because they want it to. In fact, if elections were held today, Hamas would lose… to Islamic Jihad because they’re more radical. Support for Hamas has b…

Well, I support neither Islamists, nor Israel. And I can see how Palestinians look like terrorist to someone from Israel. But I can understand that IDF looks like a terrorist organization when they drop bombs on your head. Point is, both sides take extremely violent actions which affect non-combatants, at least from time to time. It’s hypocritical to take a side. They all suck, but the UN is too dysfunctional to chan…

Why can't we have wars over territory where both sides are honorable and don't kill anyone?

Re: US lawmakers urge PayPal to end ban on Palestinians in Occupied Territories

#146

Post by hgsgm »

somebody78978 wrote: post #35
RobotToaster wrote: post #8

>lawmakers urge Shouldn't lawmakers, um, make laws? Instead of asking nicely?

I don't think the U.S. government has the right to force a company to operate in another country.

Nor do legislators have the right to pursue US foreign policy. That's the executive's job

Re: US lawmakers urge PayPal to end ban on Palestinians in Occupied Territories

#147

Post by lesuorac »

gl-prod wrote: post #23
lesuorac wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean per the article, Palastine has banks with corresponding US banks to handle transfers. So, ordinary people of those territories can use their banks.

If they can just use their banks, why was PayPal created?

Why stop there, if they could use Bank A why does Bank B exist?

PayPal does not uniquely solve any problem.

Re: US lawmakers urge PayPal to end ban on Palestinians in Occupied Territories

#148

Post by hgsgm »

x3874 wrote: post #106
droopyEyelids wrote: post #17

I'm curious why PayPal bans Palestinians. It's not like they want to limit their addressable market. Seems likely related to OFAC, which is tough to google casually https://ofac.treasury.gov/sanctions-programs-and-country-inf... Nothing specific to Palestine on the country programs, but OFAC explains further that our sanctions are much more complicated than country-by-country here: https://ofac.treasury.gov/sanctions…

Preventing additional sources for financing state-sponsored terrorism, what is hard to understand?

*this specific state.

Re: US lawmakers urge PayPal to end ban on Palestinians in Occupied Territories

#149

Post by lesuorac »

philippejara wrote: post #143
redditwhat wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it really domestic when the effective governing body in Gaza and some of the West Bank is Hamas? Should we not sanction countries ruled by terrorist organizations?

As long as the one deciding that is the US, the one that conveniently ignores the deeds of their allies in the region when they're not busy themselves destabilizing it and toppling their heads of state, no.

PayPal's withdrawal from Palestine isn't required by the US.

Re: US lawmakers urge PayPal to end ban on Palestinians in Occupied Territories

#150

Post by fweimer »

somebody78978 wrote: post #35
RobotToaster wrote: post #8

>lawmakers urge Shouldn't lawmakers, um, make laws? Instead of asking nicely?

I don't think the U.S. government has the right to force a company to operate in another country.

There's already a government office for exactly that: https://www.bis.doc.gov/index.php/enforcement/oac

However, it does not apply in this case because the U.S. does not recognize Palestine as a country, and if that changes, it seems unlikely that it would be a country friendly to the United States.

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