Barclays Bank in Broadmead was destroyed in an attack linked to Israel and Palestine

All the windows of the Barclays Bank branch in Bristol city center were smashed and graffiti sprayed over them in a coordinated attack by a group targeting the bank.

Palestine Action said its activists smashed the windows of the bank in Broadmead, along with Barclays branches across the country from Glasgow to Brighton. The group, which has been active in Bristol targeting the city’s arms industry links to Israel, said it had taken steps to demand the bank “dive out of Israel’s arms and fossil fuel trade”.

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Palestine Action has organized direct blockades of firms such as Elbit Systems, an Israeli-owned arms company that has its British base at Aztec West, on the outskirts of Bristol, and campaigners have staged regular protests in the city center over the past year. to businesses and shops said to have ties to Israel.

But the overnight action is an escalation in the targeting of Barclays in particular, with police now investigating criminal damage. A spokesman for Palestine Action said: “Barclays is funding the crises of climate collapse and genocide in Palestine.

“Decades of polite campaigning, petitions, letters and lobbying MPs have failed. We will continue to escalate until Barclays sticks its finger out and stops funding genocide and climate destruction,” they added.

Among the broken windows, activists spray-painted the names of Palestinians killed in Israeli military action in Gaza on the walls of the Barclays branch.

A Barclays spokesman said: “We provide vital financial services to public companies in the US, UK and Europe that supply defense products to NATO and its allies. Barclays does not invest directly in these companies.

“The defense sector is fundamental to our national security and the UK Government has been clear that supporting defense companies is compatible with ESG considerations. Decisions regarding the implementation of arms embargoes to other nations are the responsibility of the respective elected governments,” the spokesperson added.

“While we support the right to protest, we ask campaigners to do so in a way that respects our customers, colleagues and property,” a Barclays spokesman said.

The group Palestine Action said it had recently “partnered” with a group called Shut The System, an “underground climate movement” and said it had done so to “design this national campaign of targeted property damage”.

“Palestine Action aims to stop the Palestinian genocide by undermining the Israeli military’s weapons suppliers, including Elbit Systems, along with the financial companies involved with these weapons suppliers,” a spokesman said. “Shut the System targets the banks and insurance companies that enable fossil fuel expansion.

“Both groups have adopted radical direct action tactics that include sabotaging key infrastructure to physically prevent continued support for destructive and lethal business operations. Collaboration between groups is designed to maximize efficiency,” they added.

In late April, Avon and Somerset Police arrested nine people from Palestine Action on suspicion of conspiracy to cause criminal damage. Police are now investigating this latest attack.