On Wednesday 1 May, Palestine Action activists sabotaged the sites of numerous firms complicit in Israel’s genocide in Gaza, hitting companies and banks which invest heavily in the Israeli war machine.
Palestine Action: Israel-supporting banks targeted
BNY Mellon and Barclays had their premises smashed into and the buildings covered in blood-red paint by Palestine Action – symbolic of the Palestinian bloodshed which drenches the profits they draw for their shareholders:
BREAKING: Palestine Action spray red paint over Barclay’s branch in Moorgate, London.
Whilst the bank funds the zionist war machine, they remain complicit in the Gaza genocide. pic.twitter.com/T1TY2CMFrE
— Palestine Action (@Pal_action) May 1, 2024
These financial institutions are all major shareholders in Israel’s largest weapons company, Elbit Systems, which has itself been the target of relentless direct action by the Palestine Action network. Elbit Systems provides 85% of Israel’s drones, and up to 80% of its land-based military equipment. Its weaponry is playing a central role in the Israeli campaign in Gaza, which has so far claimed over 34,000 lives, while also having long-upheld the settler colony’s system of apartheid in the Palestinian land it occupies.
Bank of New York Mellon (BNY Mellon), which has, too, been targeted by Palestine Action numerous times in recent months have had their branch in Manchester drenched in red and its windows smashed through:
BNY Mellon invests over $10m in Elbit Systems, and – like the others targeted – draws financial returns from Elbit’s sales to the genocidal Israeli occupation regime.
Barclays sent a clear message
The Manchester office of Barclays Wealth and Investment Management, shares a building with BNY Mellon, and was targeted in the same fashion, to send a clear message to cut its complicity:
The British bank has long been a target for campaigners due to its shareholdings in Elbit Systems, these shares forming part of the £1.3bn that the bank has invested in firms supplying weapons and military technologies to Israel’s military [5]. With investments in firms including Raytheon and BAE Systems, Barclays’ interest in Israeli war crimes is as demonstrable as it is immoral.
A Palestine Action spokesperson has stated:
While Israel prepares to invade Rafah, looking to slaughter more thousands of starved, sieged, and displaced Palestinians, we cannot forget that many people are making millions from this murder. BNY Mellon, and Barclays have a duty not to aid and abet Israel’s war crimes and genocide – until they decide to enforce this, Palestine Action will continue to remind them of the blood soaking their balance-sheets.
Featured image and additional images via Palestine Action
