Pro-Palestinian protesters attack Barclays Bank branches

Pro-Palestinian protesters have smashed the windows of Barclays Bank branches and sprayed graffiti. Palestine Action said the bank had attacked banks in Bristol and Manchester, as well as other cities, to demand that the bank “divest from the Israeli arms trade and fossil fuels”. A Palestine Action spokesman said: “Barclays is funding the crises of climate collapse and genocide in Palestine.” Decades of polite campaigning, petitions, letters and lobbying of MPs have failed. “We will continue to escalate the situation until Barclays backs down and stops funding genocide and climate destruction.” Activists also sprayed the names of Palestinians killed in Israeli military action in Gaza on the walls of the Barclays branch. A Barclays spokesman said: “We provide essential financial services to US, UK and European public companies that supply defence products to NATO and its allies.” Barclays does not invest directly in these companies. “The defence sector is vital to our national security and the UK government has made it clear that supporting defence companies is consistent with ESG considerations. Decisions about implementing arms embargoes against other countries are a matter for their respective elected governments. While we support the right to protest, we ask activists to do so in a way that respects our customers, colleagues and our property.”