A group of pro-Palestine protesters took action against Barclays’ sponsorship of Wimbledon as campaigners gathered outside with strawberries "tainted with Palestinian blood".
Around 100 demonstrators stood outside the main entrance to the London tennis club alongside a giant tennis ball with the words "Barclays sponsors Wimbledon and genocide".
The protest - organised by Palestine Solidarity Campaign - saw plates of strawberries covered in red sauce set up.
Signs showed the words: "Wimbledon strawberries tainted with Palestinian blood, courtesy of Barclays".
Around 100 demonstrators stood outside the main entrance to the London tennis club alongside a giant tennis ball with the words 'Barclays sponsors Wimbledon and genocide'
PA
Demonstrators chanted "stop bombing schools, and stop bombing hospitals" as tennis fans queued for the event.
Other attendees held a sign that read "Stop The Genocide".
Lewis Backon, a spokesman for the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, said Barclays was financing firms supplying weapons to Israel.
He said: "The official partner of Wimbledon is Barclays Bank, and Barclays is financing, to the tune of billions of pounds, companies supplying weapons and military technology that Israel is using in its genocidal assault on Palestinians in Gaza.
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"You can’t use tennis as a shield to improve your reputation and to hide from accountability for your role in financing Israel’s genocide and apartheid against Palestinians.
"I think Wimbledon should end their sponsorship with Barclays.
"They shouldn’t allow Barclays to use tennis to hide from accountability as a shield to improve their reputation when they’re so complicit in Israel’s devastating attacks."
The 28-year-old added: "So we hope, before going in, a lot of Wimbledon fans will be here joining us engaging with us and also demanding that their sport, tennis, shouldn’t be used like this to provide cover for a bank which is financing genocide."
The protest - organised by Palestine Solidarity Campaign - saw plates of strawberries covered in red sauce set up
PA
In response to the protests, a spokesperson said: "We are proud of our partnership with Wimbledon which supports the growth of the championships and opportunities for young people across the UK through the Wimbledon Foundation.
“Like many other banks, we provide financial services to companies supplying defence products to the UK, Nato and its allies.
"We are also financing an energy sector in transition, including providing one trillion dollars of Sustainable and Transition Finance by 2030 to build a cleaner and more secure energy system."
