Pro-Palestine activists disrupted Barclays’ Annual General Meeting in London on Thursday in protest against the bank’s financial links to Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza . Demonstrators accused the banking giant of "bankrolling genocide" and demanded it end its role as a "primary dealer" in Israeli government bonds and halt investments and loans to arms companies supplying Israel. According to reports from inside the meeting, Barclays chairman Nigel Higgins was repeatedly interrupted during his opening remarks by protesters waving Palestinian flags and chanting "Free, free Palestine" and "Everyone here is profiting from genocide". Higgins responded that the board had "heard your point" and said questions on the issue would be addressed during the AGM’s Q&A session. The bank’s links to the Israeli government came under renewed scrutiny after a UN report by Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese last year identified Barclays among firms potentially profiting from what it described as a “genocidal economy” in Gaza. Higgins said Barclays did not accept the report’s conclusions, stating: “We’ve read it and we don’t agree with the characterisation of the financial sector in it.” He added the bank followed guidance from the British government regarding dealings with foreign governments and defence firms. "These are deeply political and complicated questions and at one level, certainly, we take a steer from where our country’s Government is," he said. The UK government has continued to export weapons to Israel amid the genocidal war on Gaza.
Higgens also stated that Barclays provides finance to international defence companies involved in supplying arms for Britain and Ukraine but declined to discuss specific clients or future financing arrangements linked to Israel. One shareholder interrupted to say: "That’s not going to happen, Mr Chairman, unless commercial companies and banks stop financing Israel."
Climate activists also disrupted the meeting, criticising Barclays over fossil fuel financing and accusing the bank of contributing to the climate crisis. Security staff eventually escorted several protesters from the venue after repeated interruptions. Barclays has faced mounting criticism in recent years over investments in Israeli government bonds and arms firms connected to military operations in Gaza. Research by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Campaign Against Arms Trade and War on Want claimed the bank holds more than £2 billion in shares across nine companies accused of complicity in Israeli attacks on Palestinians since October 2023, alongside providing an estimated £6.1 billion in loans and underwriting to the same firms. PSC deputy director Ryvka Barnard said: "There can be no business as usual for Barclays while it bankrolls Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, and wider regime of military occupation and apartheid." She added: "The only way to get Barclays to do the right thing is by drawing public attention to their role in facilitating Israel’s genocide and hitting their profits."
Barclays branches across the UK have repeatedly been targeted by pro-Palestine demonstrations and boycott campaigns. Israel's genocidal war in Gaza killed over 72,000 people according to the Gaza health ministry, with daily attacks continuing despite a US-brokered ceasefire introduced last October . Israeli forces have killed at least 840 Palestinians since the truce began.