A pensioner arrested at a pro-Palestine protest outside a Barclays bank in Belfast has said she is proud to keep demonstrating.
Sue Pentel, 72, was detained by officers on suspicion of criminal damage, along with Martine McCullough, aged in her 50s, on May 24 while protesting outside the bank on Castle Place over an incident at a previous protest at the bank on April 26.
The pair attended Musgrave Street police station in Belfast city centre on Wednesday for a pre-arranged interview under caution with officers.
Fellow campaigners staged a protest in solidarity with the pair outside the station, with applause and calls of “we’re with you” as they arrived.
Jewish grandmother Ms Pentel is a high-profile campaigner against Israel’s military offensive on Gaza.
Videos circulated online of the arrest of Ms Pentel indicate the alleged offence related to the placing of stickers on the bank’s ATM machine.
Barclays has been a target for pro-Palestine protesters who claim the bank is linked to companies supplying weapons to Israel.
Barclays has previously addressed the criticism, saying it provides financial services to nine defence companies supplying Israel but does not directly invest in such firms.
The bank has said it has become the target of a disinformation campaign over its ties to defence companies.
Ms Pentel said they are “proud to peacefully protest outside Barclays”.
“We’ve been doing it for the last eight months,” she said.
“To protest the genocide, to protest the violence, to protest the way that Israel feels its OK to starve children, to stop humanitarian aid while the world looks on.
“Well, we won’t look on, we won’t remain silent.”
She added: “We understand that we’ve been asked to be interviewed under caution, and we’re voluntarily going in about an incident on April 26 and all we can say is we’re proud to demonstrate with our amazing colleagues every week outside Barclays.
“We have the right to peacefully protest, we want to thank our solicitor Padraig O Muirigh for his time and advice.
“We have the right to peacefully protest and we will continue to do it until the genocide stops.
“We’re two grandmothers, when our grandchildren ask us what we did, we know what we’ll say, we stood up, we spoke out, we weren’t silent, and as a Jewish person I am absolutely ashamed of anybody either Israeli Jewish or London Jewish or wherever who doesn’t stand up and who thinks this is OK.”
