Palestine Action targets Barclays branch in Burnley

Several activists from Palestine Action have targeted a branch of Barclays in Burnley, over the bank’s shareholdings in Israel’s biggest weapons producer, Elbit Systems. The group smashed windows and covered the premises in red paint, symbolising Barclays complicity in Israel’s ongoing genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza.

Elbit Systems provide 85 per cent of Israel’s military drone fleet and land-based equipment, as well as missiles, ammunition and digital warfare. In response to the ongoing genocide, Elbit’s CEO Bezhalel Machlis said that the arms manufacturer has “ramped up production“. Last week, Elbit was rewarded a contract to supply thousands of artillery shells to the Israeli occupation army, which has killed or wounded more than 130,000 Palestinians since 8 October last year, most of them women and children.

Palestine Action has repeatedly targeted Barclays over its complicity in genocide, demanding that it divests from Elbit. This has culminated in over 20 branches being hit in a single night in June.

“Palestine Action will continue to make investing in Israel’s biggest weapons producer an unattractive option,” said a spokesperson for the group. “As Barclays reduces Palestinian lives to profits on its balance sheet, it’s important that it understands the cost associated with funding genocide.”

Palestine Action is a direct-action network of groups and individuals formed to take action against the sites of Elbit Systems and other companies complicit in Israeli apartheid. The group calls for all such sites to be shut down.

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