[News] People Against Genocide targets 11 HSBC branches over Elbit investments

[Anti-Imperialist News]

thecanary.co
<https://www.thecanary.co/uk/news/2025/12/16/people-against-genocide-targets-11-hsbc-branches-over-elbit-investments/>
People Against Genocide targets 11 HSBC branches over Elbit investments
The Canary
December 16, 2025
------------------------------

People Against Genocide has launched a clandestine network, with a national
series of actions against HSBC. HSBC invests in Israel’s biggest weapons
producer, Elbit Systems <https://www.thecanary.co/?s=Elbit+Systems>.

In the early hours of Saturday 13 December, groups across Britain conducted
operations at 11 locations of Britain’s largest bank, shattering windows
and dousing buildings in red paint to symbolise the bloodshed of the
Palestinian people.

Actions took place at HSBC branches in: Catford, Lewisham, Ilford,
Tottenham Court Road, Fulham, Birmingham, Wokingham, Brighton, Newcastle,
Edinburgh, and Glasgow (on 12 December).

In 2018, HSBC announced it would be divesting
<https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/latest-news/banking-giant-hsbc-divests-from-israeli-arms-manufacturer-following-pressure-from-human-rights-campaigners/>
from the Israeli arms firm
<https://caat.org.uk/data/companies/elbit-systems/>, but has since reneged
on that decision. As of 13 November 2025, it owned 16,317 shares in Elbit
Systems Ltd <https://fintel.io/so/us/eslt/hsbc-holdings>, valued at
$8,318,407 in September 2025.

Not only has HSBC reinvested in weapons production, but it continues to buy
more shares. It increased its holdings by 27.22% during the quarter, from
12,826 shares in August 2025.

HSBC claims to be <https://www.hsbc.com/who-we-are/our-strategy-and-values>:

bringing together the people, ideas and capital that drive progress and
growth, helping to create a better world.

In fact, says People Against Genocide, it’s bank-rolling an arms company
specifically linked to genocide by the United Nations
<https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20250710-the-economy-of-genocide-report-a-reckoning-beyond-rhetoric/>.
Elbit markets its weapons as “combat proven
<https://archive.ph/20161118100740/http://elbitsystems.com/products/uas/hermes-450/>“,
and its military drones have been directly linked to the deaths of
thousands of Palestinian civilians, and specifically targeting children
<https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/9/14/foreign-doctors-say-israel-systematically-targeting-gazas-children-report>
.

The company is currently under suspension from tendering for NATO contracts
because of corruption allegations
<https://peoplesdispatch.org/2025/12/09/elbit-systems-at-center-of-nato-corruption-investigation-reports-suggest/>
.

Direct Action previously forced Barclays Bank to sell its holdings in Elbit
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/barclays-israel-elbit-systems-sells-shares-weapons>.
And groups like People Against Genocide are now using the same tactics
against HSBC. The sustained number of actions against Barclays forced the
bank to re-think its investment strategy, and sell off its 16,345 shares in
Elbit.

A spokesperson for People Against Genocide said:

Despite divesting from Israeli weapons firm Elbit Systems in 2018, HSBC has
since amassed millions of dollars worth of Elbit shares right under our
noses, cementing its complicity in the ongoing genocide in Gaza and brutal
occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Banks such as HSBC invest in the production of weapons used to commit
genocide as they prioritise their profits over the lives of the Palestinian
people. By taking direct action and costing HSBC, we are making investing
in genocide unprofitable. It’s now not only the ethical decision, but it’s
also financially strategic to pull all shares out of Elbit Systems.

Our actions were taken in solidarity with the Palestinian people, and the
prisoners for Palestine hunger strikers, who are calling for Elbit to be
shut down. Some are on their 41st day of hunger strike, and their
resistance inspires us all to escalate our actions and to shut Elbit down.

*Featured image supplied*
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