No strawberries and cream during genocide: Protesters call for Wimbledon to drop Barclays partnership

On July 1, 2024, protests erupted outside Wimbledon, targeting the championship's partnership with Barclays.

Demonstrators demanded that Barclays cease its financial support for arms companies supplying Israel with weapons, used in what they describe as a genocidal assault on Palestinians.

By accepting Barclays' sponsorship, Wimbledon’s organisers are accused of allowing the bank to use the event to bolster its reputation and evade accountability for its role in facilitating Israel’s war crimes.

Neil Sammonds, Senior Campaigner on Palestine, Militarism & Security at War on Want, expressed his intention to protest, stating to TNA that, "it is grotesque that this successful and peaceful sports tournament in southwest London is partly funded by the destruction of Gaza.

"This devastation includes the demolition of homes, hospitals, and vital infrastructure, and the mass killing of tens of thousands of civilians, half of whom are children.

"Our political leaders and corporate elites are complicit in these ongoing war crimes."

Barclays' controversy

Since 2021, Barclays has increased its funding of companies supplying arms to Israel by 55%, despite the escalating apartheid and genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.

The bank now holds shares worth over £2 billion and provides an additional £6.1 billion in loans and underwriting to nine companies supplying weapons and military technology to Israel, as disclosed in a recent report by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) and Campaign Against Arms Trade.

Among the companies supported by Barclays are Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest private arms company.

Elbit Systems supplies 85% of the drones used by the Israeli army, as well as military communications technology and targeting equipment.

The company’s weaponry, including the Hermes 450 drone, has been extensively used in Israel’s bombardments of Gaza. Notable incidents include the April 2024 attack that killed seven humanitarian workers from World Central Kitchen, including three UK nationals.

Elbit Systems has also been linked to the production of cluster munitions, which are banned under international law.

Additionally, Barclays supports Raytheon, which produces bunker buster bombs and other missiles for fighter jets. These weapons are repeatedly used to target Palestinian homes in Gaza.

Barclays also supports Caterpillar, which provides the Israeli military with D9 bulldozers. These bulldozers are used to demolish Palestinian homes and essential infrastructure in Gaza and the West Bank, as well as to construct Israel’s illegal settlements on occupied Palestinian land.

Research from December 2023 by the Don’t Buy into Occupation Coalition identified Barclays as Europe’s sixth-largest creditor of businesses operating in Israel’s illegal settlements in the West Bank.

In the 1970s and 1980s, Barclays profited from apartheid in South Africa. Today, it continues to profit from apartheid through its investments in arms companies that support Israel’s regime against Palestinians.

Barclays ended its financial support for apartheid in South Africa due to global activist pressure, and now Palestinians are calling for similar solidarity to end Barclays’ complicity in Israel’s apartheid regime.

References to the Gaza war

Since Wimbledon began on July 1, protesters have used various symbols to represent the Gaza conflict.

On Monday, demonstrators brought a giant tennis ball and strawberries covered in red sauce, symbolising 'Palestinian blood.'

Additionally, billboards, bus shelters, and tube stations near Wimbledon have been covered with artwork criticising the championship’s sponsorship by Barclays.

Over 300 advertisements in the area around the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club (AELTC) have been replaced with posters by the campaign group Brandalism, mimicking Barclays’ Wimbledon promotional materials.

One poster by British-Irish artist Darren Cullen depicts a tennis player lying on the court in a pool of blood next to a crater, with the slogan, “From Gaza to global warming, we’re making a killing.”

Another artwork by Anarcha Art shows the hands of a tennis player and a banker with the caption, “Partners in climate crime and genocide.”

Will cutting ties push for change? 

The proposed "draconian" anti-boycott bill being considered by the UK’s House of Lords indicates that the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement is having an impact.

While it is difficult to measure the exact effect of BDS on companies or Israel’s economy, the decentralised movement has led to companies cutting ties with Israel.

Recently, German sportswear brand Puma, targeted by BDS since 2018, announced in December 2023 that it would not renew its contract with the Israel Football Association (IFA).

Lewis Backon, Campaigns Officer at PSC who also attended the protests, told TNA, “Many tennis fans are outraged that Barclays is using the tournament to sportswash its complicity in Israel's genocide. We urge people to write to Wimbledon’s organisers, the AELTC, to demand they end their partnership with Barclays."

“The protests aim to send Barclays a clear message: there’s nowhere you can hide from accountability over your involvement in Israeli apartheid.

"Barclays is feeling the pressure from this campaign. This year alone, thousands of former customers have closed their Barclays accounts, and hundreds more have pledged to join the next mass account closure day on July 11.

"Additionally, Barclays was forced to end its sponsorship of music festivals this summer after hundreds of artists refused to perform at Barclays-sponsored events.”

Moving forward, the PSC is calling on people to join the protests and write to Wimbledon’s organisers, the AELTC, to demand they end their partnership with Barclays.

Over 7,000 people have already acted to, in the words of Backon, “end this toxic partnership."

Zainab Mehdi is The New Arab's Associate Editor and researcher specialising in governance, development, and conflict in the Middle East and North Africa region

Follow her on Twitter: @zaiamehdi