PayPal’s failure to offer service to Palestinians alarms British MPs

Early Day Motion jumps on Twitter slacktivism bandwagon.

Read the whole story

 

[JPan]

In general I agree but its mostly America's fault ( if fault is the right word since a lot of the rules have a very sensible background with some bad side effects ) . They have made the compliance with anti money laundering rules and support for terror groups very strict. Getting caught in things like that is suicidal for a bank ( look at the money HSBC had to pay/spend after their involvement with drug rings in Mexico came out for a company like paypal it could end their existence )

And lets face it Gaza is ruled by a terror organisation who has the destruction of Israel and killing of its people in their bill of existence. While Israel is a democracy. So not quite fair comparison.

 

[Fixpir]

The reason why UK MPs are dealing about administrative questions in Hamas governed territories is beyond me.

I see absolutely no interest and no reason to import an external conflict in Europe.

 

[Fixpir]

JPan[/url]":139x0pjq]In general I agree but its mostly America's fault ( if fault is the right word since a lot of the rules have a very sensible background with some bad side effects ) . They have made the compliance with anti money laundering rules and support for terror groups very strict. Getting caught in things like that is suicidal for a bank ( look at the money HSBC had to pay/spend after their involvement with drug rings in Mexico came out for a company like paypal it could end their existence )

And lets face it Gaza is ruled by a terror organisation who has the destruction of Israel and killing of its people in their bill of existence. While Israel is a democracy. So not quite fair comparison.

To precise your statement, the Hamas charter says (Hamas) "strives to raise the banner of Allah over every inch of Palestine, for under the wing of Islam followers of all religions can coexist in security and safety where their lives, possessions and rights are concerned."

I don't know for Israelis, that's for them to decide, but I, for one, would not like to "live in security" "under the wing of Islam", and even more under the wing of Hamas Islam, thank you very much. Secularism is good enough for me, thanks.

The reason why some people that would rightly loath extreme right groups trying to dominate "every inch" of an historical territory under their ideology or religion, but actively support Hamas, is totally beyond me.

 

[agrouf]

What the ...
Paypal is one if the worst payment service among hundreds, among the most expensive ones and among the least reliable ones. What is this about? The palestinians can live with SOPA, VISA, paysite-cash, MangoPay, or even Googke check out or any of the other hundreds of payment services that has existed for decades, is available to palestinians, is cheaper than paypal, better, more reliable and more efficient. Why would they use Paypal, even if available? Actually I don't know why people use paypal at all. I understood it's because they don't know better and I guess the UK MPs are not the most informed ones. Paypal guys sure are the gods of marketing to make people use their shitty service at that premium price and make UK MPs think this is an essential service that the palestinians must have.

 

[Bilalqayum]

I understand that this is a tech site and not a political discussion forums, but those who decry Hamas (for solid, logical reasons) and ascribe "secularism" to Israel need to consider the nuances of the conflict.

Israel is not a formally secular nation in a way that Europeans would recognise it. There is no 'civil' identity, rather you must be assigned to the Jewish or Arab nations on your ID card and this comes with a host of legal distinctions, including residence and access to state resources, particularly the massive resources controlled by the National Jewish Fund.

A truly secular one-state solution is a logically sound position, I'm not sure that supporting the Israeli state as it currently exists, including an internationally recognised illegal occupation, is quite the same.

 

[r3loaded]

trusted and reliable global service

Ha!

 

[scoobie]

Paypal boycott Wikileaks too, don't they?

 

[Fixpir]

Bilalqayum[/url]":1akc9luo]I understand that this is a tech site and not a political discussion forums, but those who decry Hamas (for solid, logical reasons) and ascribe "secularism" to Israel need to consider the nuances of the conflict.

Israel is not a formally secular nation in a way that Europeans would recognise it. There is no 'civil' identity, rather you must be assigned to the Jewish or Arab nations on your ID card and this comes with a host of legal distinctions, including residence and access to state resources, particularly the massive resources controlled by the National Jewish Fund.

A truly secular one-state solution is a logically sound position, I'm not sure that supporting the Israeli state as it currently exists, including an internationally recognised illegal occupation, is quite the same.

As I was the only one writing about secularism, I suppose this was an answer to what I said.
I did not ascribe secularism to Israel. I just don't know, and don't care. I do not want to see our countries dragged into an external conflict. And I do not want to be living under Muslim law, nor Jewish law.

And, whatever the details of Israel (you learned me something I ignored), the fact is that Israel is infinitely closer to being a democracy as we know them than any structure in the region. And the fact is that Hamas policy would be considered "extreme extreme far right" by anybody in the west if not for a mysterious (for me) love from some quarters.

Last point, I'm always surprised at how few countries are secular, even in a limited way. Many carry the indication of your religion or ethnic background on the passport. I would have sworn that Socialist Algeria was secular, but recently discovered that a foreign man has to convert to Islam - even if only formally - to marry an Algerian woman in this jurisdiction (and no, I had no need to marry there, just discovered it by chance). And this seems quite universal in Muslim countries.

Edit : And yes, I understand that there are nuance in this conflict. Which is basically the reason why I don't want my own country to take side.

 

[dontbelievethenews]

Technology and politics often overlap, they always have, always will.

The truth is that this is just another example of American tech organisation’s wilful ignorance on the issue; unwilling to do the decent and honourable thing for all human beings whilst hiding behind the excuse of 'compliance' so as not to draw attention to themselves by upsetting pro-Israeli VC Investors.

Simply put, the desire to avoid unfavourable Press attention trumps Just causes.

Palestinians are people, worthy of respect, dignity and human rights, regardless of their political ‘views’ as reported by Fox News and Co.

For those critical thinkers out there, who don't believe Fox News to be actual news, let me point you in the direction of this:

http://mondoweiss.net/2016/08/paypal4pa ... estinians/

Those who really want to go the whole hog and find out some real facts around Palestine need to read all things Ilan Pappe, starting here:

https://electronicintifada.net/people/ilan-pappe

 

[zammo]

Fixpir[/url]":1n9mhzdc]The reason why UK MPs are dealing about administrative questions in Hamas governed territories is beyond me.

I see absolutely no interest and no reason to import an external conflict in Europe.

Denying services to people is not just an administrative question. Palestinians have little freedom of movement and can't even leave to go and study at university abroad for instance: permission is denied to them by the Israeli government.

These are not just administrative "questions". Why should ordinary people be denied the ability to make payments?

And taking an interest in wrongs done abroad is not "importing" a conflict.

 

[agrouf]

zammo[/url]":3ek97xi0]
These are not just administrative "questions". Why should ordinary people be denied the ability to make payments?

They are not denied the ability to make payments. They do it everyday. I've personally sold to palestinians online. I don't have a Paypal account and I do payments by the hundreds.