Actor Mark Ruffalo called for online payments provider Paypal to make their services available in the West Bank and Gaza regions on Monday afternoon.
“Paypal operates in Israel’s illegal settlements – but is refusing to provide service to Palestinians in Gaza and West Bank, in direct violation of UN guidelines,” tweeted Ruffalo, who has been a vocal critic of Israel in the past.
Friends: Paypal operates in Israel’s illegal settlements—but is refusing to provide service to Palestinians in Gaza and West Bank, in direct violation of UN guidelines.Join the international call to Paypal to end its baseless discrimination now.https://t.co/TdWjNWuEMl
— Mark Ruffalo (@MarkRuffalo) June 6, 2022
Ruffalo posted the message on Twitter along with a link to a petition to bring Paypal to the Palestinian territories – a petition organized by the non-profit organization “SumOfUs” – who claims their pressure on ice cream company Ben & Jerry’s helped lead to its withdrawal from Palestinian territories.
“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,” the petition reads. “Multiple sources within the company said the ten of thousands of you that took action had a huge impact in this decision.”
“Now is the time to join the tens of thousands SumOfUs members who have already signed the petition calling on PayPal to stop discriminating against Palestinians,” the petition declares.
Ruffalo and Israel
In 2020, Ruffalo told TV host Mehdi Hasan on NBC referred to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a "kind of apartheid" and accused the Israeli government of carrying out "asymmetrical warfare" against the Palestinian people.
1500 Palestinians face expulsion in #Jerusalem. 200 protesters have been injured. 9 children have been killed. Sanctions on South Africa helped free its black people - it’s time for sanctions on Israel to free Palestinians. Join the call. #SheikhJarrah https://t.co/f9R6LYljez
— Mark Ruffalo (@MarkRuffalo) May 11, 2021
In the midst of last year’s conflict between Hamas and Israel, Ruffalo tweeted a message in support of Palestinian residents, saying “sanctions on South Africa helped free its black people - it’s time for sanctions on Israel to free Palestinians.”
Zachary Keyser contributed to this report.