PRO-PALESTINE campaigners have staged a protest outside the Wimbledon tennis championships over Barclays’ sponsorship, accusing the bank of complicity in the genocide in Gaza.
Around two dozen demonstrators from the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) gathered outside the main gates of the All England Club on Monday morning, just yards away from Centre Court.
They chanted: “Barclays bank, you can’t hide, we charge you with genocide,” and held banners criticising the bank’s alleged investments in defence companies linked to the Israeli military.
Barclays has been targeted by pro-Palestine campaigners several times in the last two years, with protesters smashing windows and chucking paint over dozens of the bank’s branches across the UK.
Damian McCarthy, 53, a lawyer and organiser with the PSC, told the PA news agency: “I’m a local resident – and a lot of people in Wimbledon think the genocide in Gaza is appalling.
“We want to raise awareness. Barclays’ investment in genocide is wrong.
“It’s not about Wimbledon, it’s not about tennis, it’s about the investment in genocide, and we’ve got to stop it.”
An artist taking part in the protest unveiled an installation in memory of Hind Rajab, a five-year-old girl killed in Gaza in January 2024 after her family’s car was hit by an Israeli tank shell.
Barclays has been contacted for comment.
