Pro-Palestinian protesters destroy historic Balfour painting at Cambridge

A pro-Palestinian activist slashed a historic 1914 painting of British foreign minister Arthur James Balfour at Cambridge University on Friday, saying his 1917 declaration was the reason the Palestinians lost their homeland to Israel.

The Palestine Action protest group posted on social media a video of a woman spraying red paint over the life-size portrait before cutting it repeatedly with a knife – the latest in a flurry of protests prompted by the Israel-Hamas war.

The group wrote on their website that “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.”

Palestine Action further claimed that “since 1948, the Zionist regime continued to ethnically cleanse the Palestinian people, which has now culminated in an intensified genocide in Gaza, which 20 United Nations experts refer to as the second Nakba” [catastrophe].”

Speaking of the current war, which began when Hamas terrorists invaded Israel and murdered some 1200 people, the group claimed, “In the past 154 days of genocide in Gaza, Israel has killed over 30,000 Palestinians, injured over 72,000, and displaced over 1.9 million — 80% of the Gaza population.”

The number of Palestinians killed during the conflict is provided by the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry, and Israeli officials have repeatedly called into question the trustworthiness of the figure. 

Additionally, civilians in both Gaza and Israel have been internally displaced to limit civilian exposure to rockets and military actions.

Palestine Action promised “ to continue their direct campaign until Elbit is shut down and British complicity with the colonization of Palestine ends.”

The organization also claims that “Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest arms supplier, who use captive Palestinians in Gaza as a human laboratory to develop their weapons, use Britain as a manufacturing outpost.”

Condemning the incident

British Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden said he was “appalled by the moronic act of wanton vandalism,” adding in a post on X that “perpetrators should face the full force of the law.”

A spokesperson for Cambridge Police told Sky News "This afternoon we received an online report of criminal damage today to a painting at Trinity College, Cambridge.

"Officers are attending the scene to secure evidence and progress the investigation.

"No arrests have been made at this stage."

Trinity College said in a statement that it "regrets the damage caused to a portrait of Arthur James Balfour during public opening hours."

The College added: "The police have been informed.

"Support is available for any member of the College community affected."

Balfour's declaration

Balfour’s declaration, made during the latter part of World War I as Ottoman rule was crumbling in the Middle East, said London would “view with favor the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people” and work toward it – albeit without prejudicing “the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities.”

It was the first time a major power had publicly expressed support for a Jewish homeland, gave a boost to the growing worldwide Zionist movement – and shaped what was to become the interim British “mandate” rule of Palestine from 1918 onward.

REUTERS contributed to this report.