By Terri Kay
On Monday, June 10th, PAL-Awda NY/NJ: Palestinian Assembly for Liberation announced a Global Week of Action against Citibank, from June 10th to June 14th, calling on people across the US and the world to boycott, protest, and shut down Citibank and “all those who profit off of mass murder in Gaza.” PAL-Awda urged people to close their accounts at Citibank and cancel their Citi credit cards throughout the week.
In NYC, the Week of Action included a protest on June 13th at Citibank’s World Headquarters, 388 Greenwich St, New York. Hundreds of activists rallied in front of the Citibank HQ chanting “Citibank, you can’t hide, we charge your with genocide.” Speakers from PAL-Awda, Palestinian Youth Movement, American Muslims for Palestine NU, and Summer of Heat activists spoke about the hidden financiers propping up the zionist entity’s genocide in Gaza.
According to PAL-Awda, “Citibank and its parent company, Citigroup, deserve special attention” amongst U.S. banks and corporations, due to the ways in which “their actions make the genocide in Gaza possible.” With assets of $2.9 trillion, Citigroup is one of the top four banks in the United States.
In 2021, Citi loaned the israeli occupation regime $2.5 billion to buy 25 new F35 jet fighters. The US government is currently repaying that loan. PAL-Awda organizers explained that “those planes now rain death on families living in tents in Gaza. They destroy homes, hospitals, schools, mosques and churches.” The week of action was launched days after the israeli Occupation Forces, with US support, massacred at least 274 Palestinians in Nuseirat refugee camp, Gaza, Palestine.
According to the Citigroup website, “Citi boasts the largest presence of any foreign financial institution in Israel and offers corporate and investment banking services to leading Israeli corporations and institutions and global corporations operating in Israel. Citi also offers private banking services to high-net-worth individuals living in Israel. Citi has demonstrated its leadership and commitment to Israel for many years. Citi’s Technology Innovation Lab in Tel Aviv is one of the best innovation labs in the world, working locally and globally together with the Citi accelerator program and cyber security lab.”
PAL-Awda also named major Citi shareholders known for war profiteering, such as Berkshire Hathaway, Black Rock, State Street, Vanguard, and Saudi Kingdom Holding. In addition to the June 13th rally in New York City, organizers also encourage community groups in different cities around the world to hold protests at local branches of the bank.
Environmental & Palestine Activists Converge in “Summer of Heat” Against Citibank
Following PAL-Awda’s June 13th action, climate justice organizers from Youth Climate Finance, Climate Defenders Action and NY Communities for Change, supported by PAL-Awda, held a rally called “Climate Justice Means Free Palestine” at the Citibank HQ on June 18th. They demanded that Citibank stop funding fossil fuels and the isr@eli occupation. The youth set up an encampment in front of the Citibank HQ after the rally had started. Unfortunately, the encampment was quickly swept by Eric Adam’s NYPD, resulting in 18 arrests.
And on June 21st, activists from Youth Climate Finance and Stop the Money Pipeline locked down the front entrance of the Citibank HQ with huge facsimiles of black pipelines, with large bold lettering saying “Citibank Stop Funding Death”. They said that Citibank is bankrolling death as the largest funder of fossil fuel expansion in the world and the biggest foreign bank in the zionist entity. In total, NYPD arrested 40 people throughout this second week of action.
When asked how climate justice means free Palestine, responses included: War is horrible for climate. The U.S. military is the world’s largest polluter, and the zionist entity’s bombing of Gaza in only the first two months emitted more planet warming gasses than 20 of the world’s most climate vulnerable nations combined. The colonizers’ uprooting of olive trees and destruction of wells are other examples.
An on-going series of actions, including civil disobedience, rallies, and autonomous redecorating of Citibank sites has gone on all summer, as environmentalists and pro-Palestine activists found common cause in challenging Citibank and urging people to close their Citibank and cut their credit cards. Most recently people from the Palestinian Youth Movement, The People’s Forum, and PAL-Awda held a picket line at a Citibank branch in Queens, NY.
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