he destroyed a historic piece of art depicting Lord Arthur Balfour at Trinity College, Cambridge
In a video uploaded to social media, the female activist can be seen spraying red paint on the work before taking out a scalpel and ripping and slicing the canvas.
A group called Palestine Action claimed responsibility for the action, saying that the "ethnic cleansing of Palestine" began with the Balfour Declaration.
The painting depicting Balfour was created by Philip de László, the son of Hungarian Jewish parents, who is known for his portraits and paintings of royal and official figures.
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 famous statement comes from a 1917 letter written by then British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour to Lord Rothschild.
The full text of the letter read:
Dear Lord Rothschild!
It gives me great pleasure to be able to convey, on behalf of His Majesty's government, the following statement in sympathy with the aspirations of the Jewish Zionists, which we submitted and which was also approved by the Cabinet.
"His Majesty's Government look favorably upon the establishment of a Jewish national home in Palestine, and will do all in their power to promote the attainment of this end, while we must see clearly that nothing shall infringe the civil and religious rights of the non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights of Jews in any other country." and political status."
I would be very happy if you could bring this statement to the attention of the Zionist Federation of the United Kingdom.
Kind regards:
Arthur James Balfour
The letter was seen as official British recognition of the Zionist movement and a worldwide embrace of the cause of Jewish statehood.
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