HULK TAKES ON PAYPAL: Mark Ruffalo Slams Payment App For Discriminating Against Palestinians

Story By:  Ana MarjanovicSub-EditorMichael Leidig, Agency:  Newsflash

American actor Mark Ruffalo has slammed PayPal for refusing to provide services to Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.

Ruffalo, 54, who gained international recognition for playing Bruce Banner/Hulk in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, said he has joined a petition calling on PayPal, the world’s biggest online payment platform, to “end its baseless discrimination now”.

The actor, who calls himself a “climate justice advocate” on his Twitter bio, shared a link to a SumOfUs campaign calling for the end of “discrimination against Palestinians”.

The tweet of the American actor Mark Ruffalo about Pay Pall. (@MarkRuffalo/Newsflash)

At the time of writing, the petition had reached 211,000 of its 250,000-signature target.

The campaign webpage, organised by SumOfUs, which “fights for people over profits”, says: “Every morning starting at 3am, tens of thousands of Palestinians start crossing Israeli military checkpoints to get to work. It can take hours. And too often, the endless wait can turn violent as people are crushed by crowds or shot by soldiers.

“Meanwhile, Palestinians who do online freelance work run into another problem: they can’t get paid. The world’s biggest online payment platform, PayPal, won’t serve Palestinians living in Israeli-occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

The American actor Mark Ruffalo who collects more than 200,000 signatures against the ‘PayPal’ because of its discrimination against the Palestinians. (@markruffalo/Newsflash)

“It’s clear discrimination – Israelis living in the illegal settlements in the very same locations are allowed to create PayPal accounts.”

Ruffalo told his 8.1 million Twitter followers that PayPal is in “direct violation of UN guidelines”.

The ‘Spotlight’ star tweeted: “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.”

The American actor Mark Ruffalo who collects more than 200,000 signatures against the ‘PayPal’ because of its discrimination against the Palestinians. (@markruffalo/Newsflash)

The Hollywood A-lister added: “Join the international call to PayPal to end its baseless discrimination now.”