Great Britain
Cambridge: Pro-Palestine activists cut up historical painting
Picture of the former British Foreign Secretary in Cambridge: Lord Arthur James Balfour
© Palestine Action/PA Media / DPA
First sprayed with paint, then cut up: activists destroyed a picture of Arthur James Balfour in Cambridge; they apparently chose it specifically.
Pro-Palestinian activists in Britain have damaged a painting of former politician Arthur James Balfour, who is linked to the founding of the state of Israel. The group Palestine Action released a video showing a picture being sprayed with red paint and cut into pieces. It is therefore a painting in the university town Cambridge.
Police there said they received a report Friday afternoon that a painting at Trinity College had been damaged. Officials are on site to secure evidence and continue the investigation. “There have been no arrests at this time.”
Deputy Prime Minister Dowden: “Imbecilic act of wanton vandalism”
During the First World War, Balfour (1848-1930), as British Foreign Secretary, assured in a letter to the British Zionist Lionel Walter Rothschild that he would support the plan for a national home for Jews in Palestine. The declaration paved the way for the founding of the State of Israel in 1948. However, the founding of the state was also followed by a war with its Arab neighbors and the flight and expulsion of around 700,000 Palestinians. On the Palestinian side, the letter is therefore viewed as a historical mistake.
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A spokesman for the Cambridge college told the PA news agency that Trinity College regretted that a portrait of Arthur James Balfour had been damaged. “The police have been informed.” Support is available to anyone in the university community affected by the case. Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that he was appalled by this “moronic act of wanton vandalism.” The perpetrators should feel the full force of the law.