A demonstration was held in front of a Lille branch of the BNP Paribas bank at the call of the France-Palestine Solidarity Association (AFPS) this Saturday. Protesters criticize the group for its involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“Israel assassin, BNP complicit”: around fifty people demonstrated on Saturday November 9 on the Grand Place in Lille to denounce the involvement of the bank and several other French banks in financing Israel's war in Gaza and the Middle East.
The demonstration was held in front of a BNP Paribas agency, at the call of the France-Palestine Solidarity Association (AFPS) which was joined by the local Attac committees.
The activists unfurled a large Palestinian flag. They also placed many pairs of shoes to remember the victims, especially children, who died in Gaza in the war led by Israel in response to the unprecedented deadly attack launched by the Palestinian movement Hamas on October 7, 2023.
BNP particularly targeted
AFPS activists planned to question the management of the bank branch, but they found the door closed.
According to the AFPS “several French banks” support the Israeli offensive “by raising funds from these banks to the Israeli State, not directly to the State but to Israeli banks or investment companies in the settlements and also to the Israeli army.
At the end of October, activists from the Action Justice Climat association also carried out a series of actions against BNP Paribas's Parisian branches to urge the bank to “put an end to its activities linked to the State of Israel”. the NGO indicated in a press release on October 24.
According to Action Justice Climat, the leading French bank has “committed $2 billion to a bond issue by the State of Israel”. BNP clarified that it did not invest but participated as an intermediary.
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