From the Liveblog of
Monday, June 30, 2025
Pro-Palestinian protesters demand Wimbledon drop Barclays as sponsor over Israel ties
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
LONDON — Pro-Palestinian protesters urge Wimbledon to drop Barclays as a sponsor because of the British bank’s business dealings with Israel.
About two dozen protesters from Palestine Solidarity Campaign demonstrate by the main entrance of the All England Club as thousands of fans arrive for Day 1 of the tournament.
“They’re the bank for the arms companies that are obviously supplying weapons to Israel,” protester Khalid Zalmay tells The Associated Press. “We should not be arming Israel, we should not be allowing anybody to facilitate arming them, and I think ties should be cut with Israel, the same way that ties were cut with Russia.”
One protester holds a sign that says Barclays is a “sponsor of Wimbledon and genocide.”
Wimbledon doesn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Barclays says it is “proud of our partnership with Wimbledon” and defends its business practices.
“We provide a range of financial services and products to companies supplying defense products to the UK, NATO and its allies,” the company statement says. “As NATO, the EU and UK seek to increase their defense capabilities in response to increasing geopolitical threats, the provision of financial products and services to the defense sector is becoming increasingly important.”
The Times of Israel Community.