I am writing to inform you that I have closed my Tesco Bank account as a result of the bank’s sale to Barclays, who are now operating under the Tesco Bank brand.
I will not use any Tesco Bank or Barclays service until Barclays ends its financial ties with companies supplying weapons and military technology to Israel, which are used in its genocidal assault on Palestinians.
Research released by Palestine Solidarity Campaign, War on Want and Campaign Against Arms Trade in May 2024 identified that Barclays has substantial financial ties to companies supplying Israel with weapons and military technology used in its assault on Palestinians. The research found that Barclays holds £2billion in shares, and provides financial services worth £6.1billion, to nine companies supplying weapons and military technology to Israel.
Israel’s ongoing bombardment and ground invasion of the besieged Gaza Strip has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians, a sizable proportion of whom are children. Over 90% of Gaza’s population have been displaced, many of whom have been displaced multiple times. Nowhere in Gaza is safe; entire residential neighbourhoods have been levelled, UN schools sheltering the displaced, and hospitals treating the wounded, have been targeted.
The International Court of Justice, the world court, has ruled it plausible that Israel is committing genocidal acts in its assault on Palestinians in Gaza. The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has applied for arrest warrants to be issued for senior Israeli leaders for crimes against humanity and war crimes.
Given the severity of Israel’s assault, the UN Human Rights Council, alongside international human rights organisations Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, have called on all states to impose an immediate arms embargo on Israel.
Further, in June 2024, UN experts issued a warning that financial institutions who failed to "prevent or mitigate their business relationships" with arms companies supplying Israel "could move from being directly linked to human rights abuses to contributing to them, with repercussions for complicity in potential atrocity crimes".
Barclays has a clear responsibility to end its complicity in Israel’s unlawful attacks against Palestinians. The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, which Barclays has committed to, are clear that businesses and financial institutions must take active steps to “avoid causing or contributing to adverse human rights impacts” through both their direct activity and business relationships.
It is simply unconscionable that Barclays has decided to facilitate and profit from the war crimes committed against Palestinians. As a result of Barclays owning and operating under the Tesco Bank brand, I have closed my Tesco Bank account.
I will not use any Barclays or Tesco Bank service going forward, and will encourage others to do the same as a means of preventing further genocidal violence.