Pro-Palestine protesters deface Balfour's Cambridge painting
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Demonstrators in the Cambridge University of the UK vandalized and slashed the painting of former British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour.
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A Billboard with a defaced picture of British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour reading, 'we will not forget, we will not forgive,' in the street in Ramallah, occupied Palestine Nov. 4, 2021 (AP)
A pro-Palestinian activist protested against the Israeli occupation's crimes in Gaza and the United Kingdom's complicity in said crimes by vandalizing and slashing a historic painting of the father of the Balfour Declaration, British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour.
The activist, as reported by Reuters, underlined that Balfour's 1917 declaration was the root cause of the Palestinians losing their homeland to the Israeli occupation.
A video shared on social media by the Palestine Action protest group captured the activist spraying red paint over the life-size portrait before repeatedly slashing it with a knife in yet another act of protest against Israeli criminality and the enabling of the West.
BREAKING: Palestine Action spray and slash a historic painting of Lord Balfour in Trinity College, University of Cambridge.
— Palestine Action (@Pal_action) March 8, 2024
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
Balfour's declaration, made during a pivotal time as Ottoman rule crumbled in West Asia in the wake of World War I, expressed London's support for the establishment of a home for Jews around the world in the Palestinian territories.
The Balfour declaration set the stage for the interim British "mandate" rule of Palestine from 1918 onward, which then itself allowed for the occupation of Palestine at the hand of the Zionists.
The Palestinians have persistently called for an apology from Britain for the 67-word document, viewing it as a catalyst for their displacement.
UK accountability for occupation
The end of the British mandate in Palestine in 1947-48 was followed by the Palestinian Nakba and the establishment of the Israeli occupation, which together led to the forced exodus of around 750,000 Palestinians following a slew of ethnic cleansing campaigns and dozens of massacres at the hands of Zionist militias.
Palestine Action asserted that Balfour's declaration initiated the ethnic cleansing of Palestine by promising the land away, emphasizing that Britain never had the right to make such promises.
Cambridge’s Trinity College expressed regret for the damage done to the painting, remaining silent on the ongoing israeli genocide in Gaza, which has been unfolding for 5 months amid continued silence.
Pro-Palestine protesters to be jailed 3 months, fined in UK: Cleverly
UK Interior Minister James Cleverly revealed a new public order offense in a statement in early February, saying that pro-Palestine protesters who climb war memorials could face jail for three months and a 1,000 pound ($1,260) fine.
Cleverly claimed that the protests “have seen a small minority dedicated to causing damage and insulting those who paid the ultimate price for their freedom to protest,” adding, “Peaceful protest is fundamental in our county, but climbing on our war memorials is an insult to these monuments of remembrance and cannot continue."
He stressed that this would be part of a plan to ensure police can keep public order and peace.
Moreover, back in October, the head of the Metropolitan police, Commissioner Mark Rowley, declared that his forces would be "absolutely ruthless" during pro-Palestine protests, though he claimed prosecutions would only happen when the law is broken.
