Demonstrators protest UK's Barclays in support of Palestinians

By Behlul Cetinkaya

LONDON (AA) - Barclays bank branches across Britain faced protests on Saturday demanding the bank stop funding Israel's “genocidal” attacks on Gaza.

In a statement, the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) accused Barclays of "bankrolling Israel’s genocidal assault on Palestinians" through its financial ties with arms companies that sell weapons to Israel.

The group recently called on people to boycott all Barclays services until "the bank ends its complicity," and called for actions across the UK.

Following the call, many people carrying Palestinian flags gathered at Barclays branches to protest the British bank.

During a protest in front of a Barclays branch on Kensington High Street, near Israel's Embassy to the UK, protesters chanted pro-Palestinian slogans, including "Free Palestine" and "Stop arming Israel."

Speaking to Anadolu, Tony Loftus, a protester, accused the bank of financing companies, "helping Israeli genocide in Gaza," and said that in decades past, similar support was also given to the apartheid system in South Africa.

Loftus added that he is not only against Barclays but against all companies that support Israeli actions in Gaza.

Also speaking to Anadolu, another protester, Joanna McGuinness, said that Barclays is cooperating with the Israeli state and financed the companies that supported the "massacre."

McGuinness also voiced hope that Friday's interim ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) will bring an end to arms sales to Israel.