Protests held in Spain to condemn banks’ funding of Israeli arms companies

MADRID, Aug. 24 (YPA) – Pro-Palestinian activists staged a large protest in Spain to condemn Santander Bank’s investments in arms and technology companies accused of contributing to the Israeli occupation’s crimes against Palestinians in Gaza.

Participants wore blood-stained military uniforms in a symbolic gesture to recall the reality faced by school and university students in Gaza amidst the widespread destruction of the education system.

According to the UN Commission of Inquiry, hundreds of schools in the Gaza Strip have been bombed or damaged since the start of the offensive, depriving hundreds of thousands of children of formal education.

Protesters accused the bank of continuing to invest billions of dollars in arms companies and of owning shares in Palantir Technologies, which UN and human rights reports have documented using artificial intelligence and surveillance technologies by the Israeli army.

According to the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre, Santander’s shares in Palantir were worth approximately $18 million as of December 2025, with no response from the bank to the Centre’s inquiries.

The BDS movement lists the bank among financial institutions targeted for divestment, and Palantir among companies included in boycott campaigns.

The Palestinian National Committee for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) called on the public to pressure financial institutions to sever their ties with companies linked to the occupation and the arms industry.

The protest comes amid escalating solidarity campaigns with Palestine in Europe targeting companies and institutions accused of supporting the aggression against Gaza.