Palestine protesters spray ketchup ‘blood’ over Lord Balfour statue in Parliament
search

The latest Jewish News

Read this week’s digital edition

Click Here

Palestine protesters spray ketchup ‘blood’ over Lord Balfour statue in Parliament

Two women targeted statue of the former prime minister and signatory of the Balfour Declaration, which pledged the formation of a “national home for the Jewish people”.

BEST QUALITY AVAILABLE Handout grab from video issued by Palestine Action of protesters from Palestine Action demonstrating in the Houses of Parliament, London. Picture date: Saturday November 12, 2022.
BEST QUALITY AVAILABLE Handout grab from video issued by Palestine Action of protesters from Palestine Action demonstrating in the Houses of Parliament, London. Picture date: Saturday November 12, 2022.

Two women have been arrested after protesters pretending to be tourists squirted tomato ketchup on to a statue in the Houses of Parliament.

Members of Palestine Action used tourist passes to enter the Members’ Lobby of the House of Commons.

They targeted a statue of former prime minister Lord Arthur Balfour, signatory of the Balfour Declaration – a 1917 document which pledged the formation of a “national home for the Jewish people” in Palestine.

Handout grab from video issued by Palestine Action of protesters from Palestine Action demonstrating in the Houses of Parliament, London. Picture date: Saturday November 12, 2022.

As they sprayed the red condiment, which the group described as fake blood, one demonstrator said on Saturday morning: “Palestinians have suffered for 105 years because of this man, Lord Balfour – he gave away their homeland and it wasn’t his to give.”

The two protesters glued themselves to the statue after squirting the ketchup, before revealing a miniature Palestinian flag and shouting “free Palestine”.

Handout grab from video issued by Palestine Action of protesters from Palestine Action demonstrating in the Houses of Parliament, London. Picture date: Saturday November 12, 2022.

The Metropolitan Police said in a statement: “Police were alerted at 11.20am on Saturday November 12 to two women who had entered the Parliamentary Estate with tourist tickets.

“They had glued themselves to a statue in the Member’s Lobby in the House of Commons and had thrown ketchup over the statue and a wall.”

Two women were arrested for criminal damage and taken to a London police station, where they remained on Saturday evening.

Support your Jewish community. Support your Jewish News

Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.

For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.

Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.

You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.

100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...

Engaging

Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.

Celebrating

There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.

Pioneering

In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.

Campaigning

Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.

Easy access

In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.

Voice of our community to wider society

The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.

We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.

read more: