PRO-PALESTINE protesters have targeted the Barclays office in Glasgow.
The bank has been targeted by pro-Palestine campaigners several times in the last two years, with protesters smashing windows and chucking paint over dozens of its branches across the UK.
According to the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, this is due to Barclays holding “over £2 billion in shares, and providing £6.1bn in loans and underwriting, to nine companies whose weapons, components and military technology are being used by Israel in its attacks on Palestinians”.
The campaign group has a long-running position of calling on people to "boycott all Barclays services until the bank ends its grave complicity in Israel’s attacks on Palestinians".
Now, in response to a claimed visit by Barclays CEO C.S. Venkatakrishnan, pro-Palestine campaigners protested outside the Glasgow office on the Clyde on Monday, with banners unfurled and a series of signs that said “75,000+ murdered”.
Israel’s genocide in Gaza has killed more than 73,050 Palestinians, including those killed since the ceasefire, Gaza’s health ministry said in June.
Although, some studies have put the figure as higher. In response to the protests which have been seen outside Barclays branches, there is a statement on its website explaining the bank’s “position on the anti-defence movement”.
It stated: “You may have seen criticism of Barclays for providing services to the defence sector. We are committed to being transparent about our role as a bank and we are always willing to talk about the work we do and why we do it.
“The anti-defence movement criticises Barclays for financing defence manufacturers. We are a bank which, like others in the UK, provides financial services to companies which, in many cases, make defence equipment alongside their civilian products.
“These companies are an important contributor to our national security and at a time of increasing geopolitical instability, we don’t think taking away these services is the right thing to do.”
