Pro-Palestinian protesters destroyed a century-old painting of a British lord responsible for helping the Jews secure Israel as their homeland, according to Palestinian Action.
The painting was of Lord Arthur James Balfour, a former foreign secretary of the United Kingdom, and sits at Trinity College of the University of Cambridge. One protester with the group Palestinian Action spray painted the artwork Friday before slashing the ‘historic painting’ into pieces with a blade, according to a statement from the protesters.
“An activist slashed the homage and sprayed the artwork with red paint, symbolising the bloodshed of the Palestinian people since the Balfour Declaration was issued in 1917,” the group wrote. “Arthur Balfour, then UK foreign secretary, issued a declaration which promised to build “a national home for the Jewish people” in Palestine, where the majority of the indigenous population were not Jewish. He gave away the Palestinians homeland — a land that wasn’t his to give away. ”
BREAKING: Palestine Action spray and slash a historic painting of Lord Balfour in Trinity College, University of Cambridge.
Written in 1917, Balfour’s declaration began the ethnic cleansing of Palestine by promising the land away — which the British never had the right to do. pic.twitter.com/CGmh8GadQG
— Palestine Action (@Pal_action) March 8, 2024
The Balfour Declaration was one of the early pushes for the creation of a Jewish state and helped pave the path for the nation to be realized over 30 years later, according to The New York Times. Protests have erupted in Britain since the events of Oct. 7 after Hamas terrorists attacked the Jewish state, killing over 1,200 and taking nearly 250 hostages.
A spokesperson for the Cambridgeshire Constabulary confirmed that they had received reports of “criminal damage today to a painting at Trinity College, Cambridge” and that “Officers are attending the scene to secure evidence and progress the investigation” but no arrests have been made, according to The Daily Mail.
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