Panic as pro-Palestine groups threaten UK Christmas event with boycott demand

Panic has erupted in the UK as Pro-Palestine groups have threatened to disrupt one of London’s biggest Christmas events over its sponsorship deal with Barclays.

Campaigners have called for the boycott of Capital’s Jingle Bell Ball, which is set to be headline next weekend by Coldplay and Katy Perry at the O2 arena.

There are plans by protesters from The Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) and Palestine Action to picket the shows, raising fears that militants could try to disrupt the event.

The protest is part of a larger campaign against Barclays over their financial links to defence-industry companies which activists claim provide weapons to Israel.

Speaking to The Telegraph, a spokesman for the PSC said they were urging people not to attend the Jingle Bell Ball and other events sponsored by Barclays.

A spokesman for the PSC said: “We urge people not to attend the Jingle Bell Ball and other events it sponsors as part of our boycott of Barclays.

“Barclays is using its support of arts and culture to launder its financial links to military operations in Gaza and give themselves respectability.

“Families in Gaza don’t have the freedom or safety to celebrate Christmas and would love to see an end to this conflict.”

There are now fears that Coldplay’s frontman Chris Martin could pull out of the shows.

Chris Martin, the lead singer of Coldplay, has expressed his support for peace in the Middle East and has called for an end to oppression and occupation.

At the band’s headline performance, during Glastonbury earlier this year, Martin called on the crowd to send love to Israel and Palestine, and to show a “beacon of togetherness”.

He also performed a duet with Palestinian singer Elyanna and at a concert in Tokyo, Martin led fans to send love to Gaza, Israel,the West Bank, and other places.

Earler this year Palestine Action members targeted 10 Barclays banks and sites across the country by covering them in red paint.

The organisation aimed to pressure the bank into withdrawing investment from Israel‘s arms trade and fossil fuel industries, specifically over their shareholdings in Elbit Systems.