20 Barclays branches across the UK vandalised in coordinated effort by anti-Israel activists

Three Barclays branches in London have been defaced with red paint and their windows smashed as part of a coordinated effort by pro-Palestinian protesters.

Branches in St John’s Wood, Croydon, and Moorgate were all damaged as part of a wider targeting campaign that saw 20 Barclays locations across the country vandalised on Monday.

The protest groups Palestine Action and Shut the System took responsibility for the synchronised stunt, declaring the bank had been targeted over its “investment in genocide”.

The collaboration of the two groups to demand “divestment from Israel’s weapons trade and fossil fuels” has left the bank “shattered”, they claimed.

Activists also hurled rocks with the names of “Palestinian martyrs” at the British bank’s Wealth and Investment Management office in Edinburgh.

PA wrote on X/Twitter, “When will the bank stop funding genocide and respect Palestinian lives, homes, schools, hospitals, universities and land?”

Three men aged between 34 and 45 have reportedly been arrested in connection with “criminal damage” after the daubing of red paint on the Moorgate branch. The men were seen on CCTV and taken into custody following a short foot chase.

The same branch was cordoned off early last month after being sprayed with red paint by pro-Palestinian activists. In May and February, graffiti accusing Barclays of “funding the death of 13,000 kids” was sprayed across the bank’s entrance.

The St John’s Wood location saw its front windows and glass doors smashed, and red paint splattered across its face and ATM machines.

The branch in Croydon’s north end was also hit in April with graffiti featuring the words “baby killers” and its floor-to-ceiling windows smashed.

Other Barclays locations such as those in Bristol and Bury were targeted on Monday.

The bank’s annual shareholder meeting in May was also disrupted by activists shouting “blood on your hands”.

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

“The defence sector is fundamental to our national security and the UK government has been clear that supporting defence companies is compatible with ESG considerations.

“Decisions on the implementation of arms embargos to other nations are the job of respective elected governments.

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

Palestine Action has carried out several disruptive stunts since October to demonstrate against factories they accuse of producing components for arms used by Israel. In March, an activist belonging to the group destroyed an over 100-year-old painting depicting Lord Arthur Balfour that hung in Trinity College Cambridge.

In May, the government’s adviser on political violence, Lord Walney, recommended a new category for proscribing “extreme protest groups” such as Palestine Action.