Barclays has sold all its shares in Elbit Systems, an Israeli arms manufacturer, according to the bank’s latest filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
The London-headquartered bank's regulatory filing revealed it sold all its holdings – 16,345 shares worth more than $3.4 million – in Elbit, a company often criticised for its role in supplying the Israeli military.
Barclays did not disclose a reason for the sale. However, it follows a nearly year-long campaign by activist groups for the bank to end its involvement with the defence company.
UK-based Palestine Action claimed it had pressured Barclays to sell its shares in Elbit with more than 50 direct actions against bank branches, including smashing windows and painting premises red to highlight the alleged humanitarian impact of Elbit’s operations in Gaza.
“Through a focused strategy, direct action has achieved multiple successes and forced the hands of many complicit institutions,” a Palestine Action representative said on Thursday.
“We will remain committed and focused to the task at hand and target any and all institutions and businesses which enable Israel’s biggest weapons firm to maintain their genocidal operations. That means, if Barclays does reinvest into Elbit Systems in the future, Palestine Action will come knocking again.”
In a statement posted on its website, Barclays said: “We may hold shares [in Elbit] in relation to client-driven transactions, which is why we appear on the share register, but we are not investors.”
Barclays did not respond immediately to The National's request for comment.
Barclays accused of helping companies arming Israel
A May report found that Barclays has increased its financial ties with companies arming Israel.
“The bank now invests over £2 billion [$2.5 billion] in, and provides loans and underwriting worth £6.1 billion, to nine companies whose weapons, components and military technology are used in Israel’s attacks on Palestinians,” the Palestine Solidarity Campaign revealed in its report. PSC claimed Barclays invested £2.7 million in Elbit Systems.
In June, entertainment company Live Nation announced it was severing ties with Barclays, one of its major sponsors. The move came after some artists pulled out of events in protest at the bank's links to defence industry companies working with Israel. Barclays had signed a five-year sponsorship deal with Live Nation last year.
In May, Barclays' annual shareholders' meeting was disrupted by activists. The bank has previously said that it did not invest its own money in companies that supply weapons used by Israel in Gaza.
MATCH INFO
Alaves 1 (Perez 65' pen)
Real Madrid 2 (Ramos 52', Carvajal 69')
Islamophobia definition
A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
How tumultuous protests grew
- A fuel tax protest by French drivers appealed to wider anti-government sentiment
- Unlike previous French demonstrations there was no trade union or organised movement involved
- Demonstrators responded to online petitions and flooded squares to block traffic
- At its height there were almost 300,000 on the streets in support
- Named after the high visibility jackets that drivers must keep in cars
- Clashes soon turned violent as thousands fought with police at cordons
- An estimated two dozen people lost eyes and many others were admitted to hospital
Earth under attack: Cosmic impacts throughout history
- 4.5 billion years ago: Mars-sized object smashes into the newly-formed Earth, creating debris that coalesces to form the Moon
- 66 million years ago: 10km-wide asteroid crashes into the Gulf of Mexico, wiping out over 70 per cent of living species – including the dinosaurs.
- 50,000 years ago: 50m-wide iron meteor crashes in Arizona with the violence of 10 megatonne hydrogen bomb, creating the famous 1.2km-wide Barringer Crater
- 1490: Meteor storm over Shansi Province, north-east China when large stones “fell like rain”, reportedly leading to thousands of deaths.
- 1908: 100-metre meteor from the Taurid Complex explodes near the Tunguska river in Siberia with the force of 1,000 Hiroshima-type bombs, devastating 2,000 square kilometres of forest.
- 1998: Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 breaks apart and crashes into Jupiter in series of impacts that would have annihilated life on Earth.
-2013: 10,000-tonne meteor burns up over the southern Urals region of Russia, releasing a pressure blast and flash that left over 1600 people injured.
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
Stormy seas
Weather warnings show that Storm Eunice is soon to make landfall. The videographer and I are scrambling to return to the other side of the Channel before it does. As we race to the port of Calais, I see miles of wire fencing topped with barbed wire all around it, a silent ‘Keep Out’ sign for those who, unlike us, aren’t lucky enough to have the right to move freely and safely across borders.
We set sail on a giant ferry whose length dwarfs the dinghies migrants use by nearly a 100 times. Despite the windy rain lashing at the portholes, we arrive safely in Dover; grateful but acutely aware of the miserable conditions the people we’ve left behind are in and of the privilege of choice.
GIANT REVIEW
Starring: Amir El-Masry, Pierce Brosnan
Director: Athale
Rating: 4/5
