Pro-Palestine protesters have targeted 20 Barclays’ across the UK, smashing windows and throwing red paint over the bank branches in London, Bristol and Manchester.
Pictures show that all the windows of a branch in the centre of Bristol have been smashed and graffiti sprayed over them in the co-ordinated attack.
Posting on X, Palestine Action claimed to have ‘shut 20 Barclays branches’ across England and Scotland with their antics.
The group said they took the action to ‘demand the bank divests from Israel’s weapons trade and fossil fuels’.
A spokesperson for Palestine Action said: ‘Barclays is funding the crises of climate collapse and genocide in Palestine.
‘Decades of polite campaigning, petitions, letter writing and lobbying MPs have failed.
‘We will continue to escalate until Barclays pulls its finger out and stops funding genocide and climate destruction.
Has YOUR local Barclays closed after being targeted? Email [email protected]
BRISTOL: Pro-Palestine protesters have targeted Barclays ‘ across the UK, smashing windows and throwing red paint over the bank branches
BURY: A police cordon is in place outside Barclays bank in Bury, Manchester, after the protest
WESTMINSTER: The St Johns Wood branch of Barclays Bank is left with doors and windows smashed and the exterior covered with red paint
In Bristol, the windows of the bank branch were smashed and red paint was doused over the property.
Meanwhile, in the Scottish capital of Edinburgh, rocks inscribed with the names of Palestinians killed in the conflict were thrown at windows.
City of London Police said that three men, between 34 and 45, have been arrested in connection with criminal damage at Barclays on Moorgate this morning.
A post on X by the force read: ‘They were seen on CCTV by our control and officers were sent to the scene. Following a short foot chase, three men were brought into custody.’
Other branches targeted include Stockport and Bury in Greater Manchester, Preston in Lancashire, and St John’s Wood, Westminster and Croydon in London.
Activists also sprayed the names of Palestinians killed in the Israeli military action in Gaza on the walls of the Barclays branch.
A spokesperson for Barclays said: ‘We provide vital financial services to US, UK and European public companies that supply defence products to Nato and its allies.
‘Barclays does not directly invest in these companies.
‘The defence sector is fundamental to our national security and the UK government has been clear that supporting defence companies is compatible with ESG considerations.
‘Decisions on the implementation of arms embargoes to other nations are the job of respective elected governments.
‘While we support the right to protest, we ask that campaigners do so in a way which respects our customers, colleagues and property.’
BRISTOL: Gigantic shards of glass sticking up from the remains of the shattered window
CROYDON: Holes are seen left in smashed windows in Croydon this morning
BURY: A table and a sign were left coated with the paint which was thrown at the bank
Palestine Action are a protest group that targets businesses and institutions that have links to Israel.
Their website states that their aim are to support Palestine through direct action.
Their page states that they use direct action, factory occupations and other disruption to ‘shut down the companies fuelling Israeli war crimes’.
Last week a Barclays branch in Bolton has had its windows smashed and red paint thrown over and inside the building with police on the scene.
Palestine Action claimed responsibility for the attack, along with another in Bradford, stating Barclays ‘divests from Israel’s biggest weapons firm, Elbit Systems’.
The group, which formed in 2020 has been very destructive and in the first year the group boasted they had caused ‘£15,930,000 in losses, damages and increased costs’ to firms they believe to be complicit in the Israeli occupation of Palestine.
Since they were founded, the group have successful occupied major business headquarters including Elbit, an electronic defence system producer.
BURY: Barclays bank in Bury, Manchester, this morning, which was targeted by activists
BRISTOL: Red paint was thrown across the branch in Bristol’s city centre in protest
BRISTOL:A woman carefully picks her way over the shattered and stained broken window glass
RICHMOND: Red paint was thrown over this ATM of a Barclays bank in Richmond
They also staged a mass protest in 2021 at the Liverpool Arms Fair which saw with activists using fire extinguishers to spray red paint over the ACC Exhibition Centre.
Earlier this year a pro-Palestine protester sprayed and slashed the University of Cambridge’s historic painting of British statesman Lord Balfour who paved the way for a Jewish state in the Middle East.
Palestine Action shared a video of a demonstrator destroying the portrait and spraying it with red paint.
A woman was seen on the footage slashing the painting with a sharp object before spraying paint from a can over Balfour’s face.
The pro-Palestine action group also partnered with Shut the System, a recently launched underground climate movement.
On their social media, the group gave more details on the protests.
Alongside a picture of a bag of rocks with name son, they posted on X, formerly Twitter: ‘Actionists threw rocks marked with the names of Palestinian martyrs at Barclays in Edinburgh, investors in Israel’s largest weapons firm, Elbit Systems.
CROYDON: A Barclays sign in Croydon next to the branch was splattered with paint
BURY: Forensic officers and a police cordon were in place outside Barclays bank in Bury, Manchester, this morning, after the group targeted the bank with paint
BRISTOL: A police officer stands at the scene after a branch was targeted by activists
PECKHAM: The scene at Barclays bank in Peckham after several branches were attacked
WESTMINSTER: Branch cash machines are covered with red paint
BRISTOL: The windows of the Barclays Bank branch in the centre of the city have been smashed
BURY: A cracked window in a Barclays bank in Manchester, dripping with red paint
Palestine Action posted on X that they had used rocks painted with the names of ‘Palestinian martyrs’ to smash up bank branches across the country
The protests triggered an outcry on social media.
One user wrote: ‘Palestine Action say they’ve targeted twenty Barclays.
‘Bank branches across the country. This isn’t just vandalism, it’s frankly domestic terrorism. They’ve become so brazen since they believe that they’re above the law. Palestine Acton need to be proscribed.’
Lee Harris, a GB News contributor posted: ‘Palestine Action smash up TWENTY Barclays Bank branches across UK in latest vandalism campaign. This is domestic terrorism. It’s about time this vile organisation was banned.’
Another called for harsher action against the protesters and described their attacks on bank branches as ‘a threat to civil society and the rule of law’
