On January 26th, without any prior notification, we were informed via a curt email from PayPal Europe that our PayPal account had been closed. That same day, despite the lack of any public statement from PayPal on the matter, Israeli websites – relayed by their French support network – went abuzz, lashing out at us with this information. So who tipped them off?
On January 29th, we sent a registered letter to PayPal Europe requesting an explanation and demanding the reactivation of our account. This letter received no response. We subsequently forwarded our letter to PayPal France on March 6th, requesting an urgent meeting with PayPal’s management; this letter, too, went unanswered.
Since then, other French organizations working in defense of Palestinian rights have been targeted by PayPal as well: on February 26th, the PayPal account of the French Jewish Union for Peace (Union Juive Française pour la Paix) was closed; on March 15th, the Collectif 69 de solidarité avec la Palestine in Lyon was informed of the same.
Since February 2016, the Israeli government has implemented a specialized and heavily-funded division that relies on sympathetic entities from around the world to tackle organizations like ours that defend the rights of the Palestinian people. In France, these entities attempt to base their legitimacy on the alleged "illegality" of boycott action; most fortunately, however, no law in France prohibits the challenging of a foreign State’s policy, including the call for a boycott.
In lending a complacent ear to such mudslinging and to the lackeys that sling it; in closing accounts without even conferring with its customers; in leaving our requests for explanation and reparations unanswered; and by (in all likelihood) "leaking" information that feeds propaganda and misinformation about our organizations, PayPal is manifestly on the side of the oppressors who flout international law, oppress the Palestinian people, and threaten freedom of speech around the world.
Are PayPal executives aware of the implications of such attitudes for the reputation of their company?
PayPal has already come under fire for its refusal to provide its services to the Palestinians living in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, all the while providing its services to the residents of Israeli settlements – all of which are illegal under international law.
At a time when the Trump-Netanyahu duo is directly attacking the Palestinian people in Jerusalem, as nonviolent resistance is being subjected to ever-stronger repression, and the 2 million inhabitants of Gaza continue to suffer a catastrophic and inhumane blockade, we call upon our fellow citizens to mobilize with us for justice and international law. And we remind those who are willing to financially support our action that our donation platform is up and running with another provider we had started using several weeks before the closure of our PayPal account.
The France Palestine Solidarity Association (AFPS) Executive Board
19 March 2018
