[News] Palestine Action Deface Balfour Statue in the House of Commons

[Anti-Imperialist News]

  *Palestine Action Deface Balfour Statue in the House of Commons*

In an unprecedented move, Palestine Action struck at the very heart of 
government to deface the “commemorative” statue of former Prime Minister 
Lord Arthur Balfour — the colonial administrator and signatory of the 
Balfour Declaration. Actionists evaded security to gain access to the 
House of Commons Private Members Lobby in the Palace of Westminster in 
London.

Once inside, the group doused the statue in fake blood & unveiled the 
Palestinian flag, before gluing themselves to the plinth to state their 
intentions:

*“Palestine Action won’t stop until British complicity does”*

Security quickly evacuated the lower lobby to prevent onlookers 
watching, hearing or filming the event.

This latest action coincides with the 105th anniversary of Balfour’s 
Declaration. Written in 1917, the document was issued during the First 
World War consisting of just 67 words. It promised to build “a national 
home for the Jewish people” in Palestine.

*“105 years ago, Arthur Balfour gave away the Palestinians’ homeland — a 
land that wasn’t his to give away” said one of the activists. *

After the Declaration, until 1948, the British burnt down indigenous 
villages to prepare the way; with this came arbitrary killings, arrests, 
torture, sexual violence including rape against women and men, the use 
of human shields and the introduction of home demolitions as collective 
punishment to repress Palestinian resistance.

The British were initiating the ethnic cleansing of Palestine, 
fulfilling the Zionist aim to build their ‘home’ over the top of what 
were Palestinian communities, towns, villages, farms and ancestral land, 
rich in heritage, culture and ancient archeological history.

The Palestinians refer to this time as the Nakba — which translates into 
the great catastrophe. In 1948, the Zionist militia, trained by the 
British, forced over 750,000 Palestinians into exile, destroyed over 500 
villages and forced those who remained to live under a brutal reign of 
occupation.

Elbit Systems, Israel's largest arms supplier, was created out of a need 
to further arm and sustain the occupation. Today, captive Palestinians 
in Gaza are used as a human laboratory to develop Israeli weapons, 
marketing them as battle-tested before selling them on to the world’s 
most notorious dictatorships.

*The British government in 1917, and every single one since, has 
profited from the crimes it committed 105 years ago, and is still 
committing to this day — from troops on the ground, to arming from afar, 
complicity didn’t stop. Palestine Action will make sure it does.*

Press Release 
<https://click.actionnetwork.org/ss/c/atcYNHk4Eh2YdGnwBh-YDLmC2gFw3F3Rt87_H7ZtO18eG78LS8FPKxBmaEy1D5fprUhSlTJX-gQ0OkXaE_I8FsxXpmqfs1sS32rdIpQlSmWK-WZmiCRowdH4iDYLMA-tun6p8VUYUCuXpaCMVeqCLzQhMrlMxCum_BkJzwZ_Rj2_xhc5BVImwHSu1OVEQ2DvxeZBbVcGxqOTouk7WEjI9YldbegI64WMzfXGPWp5nh7gAU1dCwRB2aygsaxcft2lO-mu6X34VFzU24rGc7IQvlJ9XM6PUM4l7FdKD6Mur8GOkxRr49Mgyh576qHZH2r2wUnU9T6VL7uQDOMijpgelsli1xN_w9wQCMd5FMOtmjcZWsAwzknF7mO8lH3JpZ4b/3r3/GJ0e55NUTA2HiFeaVTC1TA/h0/-djnTCRzBOAsvMkE4J1FZYH4rUn2rQgZb-aAmN3g_ZI> 


Watch on Twitter 
<https://click.actionnetwork.org/ss/c/dSCQfi9FLISmU3ZE3bfPhh8p-oOzxxKhnBBi6y1zY6aVLRPvg1BRzOHnZDE_G_vEEjl5BlVF1t1ICimqIjVISLTEv_RRxfDKOmpWrsTUlKX6sQQuXhUsTKVqBtMfQdN4ISyAggqlPcqSP40YJc8-QGY46iLh0UFh1pJCi2lXIYTrBA9aHP-xZV-kwlh1yRzgwzL_vZia3Cetua-iOpblHXEYQtUZ9BL48AT69HUwMLLnNJ6KgT2kpQmm9jBcvEqw5Ekj6_VgV1VlKs1OE1zLMJZE5w-_O3kmtWDoEAfUUYDu126qAg9lajGGUH9zklqW85-qR9eDkLzb_GsPnttaV8rH5n5NzpMmjTqqmwEEzJKKsQke3Gm_NuQyE8ZEejr8WFamF4ATHVZb14NS2TfQSw/3r3/GJ0e55NUTA2HiFeaVTC1TA/h1/OVbMxLb0HrU53tOGefx3FdaIvQ9nSKDciAnzaITuZnI> 


Donate 
<https://click.actionnetwork.org/ss/c/1XQbiUZqIgkFRQxQopJGKQIuCRKm5YeQaqePQmC7a8d_dxDq_5IWMCpRBmAWlZA0ZkK5vrXgJn_w1QbqgStNX3Fwb_pvgHtepNyJacF4c1sZaHy0f7SqW9BFt6ZFnn3SyusbzEtGLm9E3W7n2ZbYnwkC14BYC-_Rg0aTtLnOQJdyelPvoogDg2kxEq0QYHBAW10QtGXQwh_42ALcdt0ZaKJhciR7Ydk-W1M-AphWp3Ljo3D5sYjjX0PIlelttYdXDix1ZJ6WdO_w76eCE4v40KVkEDmtol6GH7uJxvSemNBeul_eDZ9iwKf8t24YMCjD9tkSKghO4L4P6JsABrM1gixp7LWmnH3xlp0eb01YBBBMyD8nDpjFZDneur6-sbKM/3r3/GJ0e55NUTA2HiFeaVTC1TA/h2/JO0NdiaRXmxtYnQbIb97jqt95U9I4Afku2q8EIguTk0> 



  *Take action*

Ready to join Palestine Action on the front line battle to dismantle 
British complicity? Make sure to sign up to one of our regular direct 
action workshops:

Register 
<https://click.actionnetwork.org/ss/c/SVVf6UGddUySPN6znLYVWkAoSBXd7yFo3NQBStHbst9UoKQNtr_lGd_aUc1QBxg8SxZNVvXJwXyPFlv4a9MK6fnUTB1axhSj6MAsa_aMQMC4_jLPtITBoa5j0PQuFvUe7Pm2CvWNs7Weh_Xj2jRfHYdBSdRV1gZC2GcJ1AxR8dg1V-x8vBWrmyVDaa0odGMmp70ys8UjZHIfpKWUtrD6mqlDuiUGELh0o0nUcsQidUPfWZVszMBPGpqCNV1Qpuxiue3vvQEL37DBI9sDY61Q3Y7WbartNM_FtPTlAFvZBKKzvQccTFJt9W5lpRA7xPEnx-arbQFZVWqK0TQHIecwCfSe_e4NBskLsGTBp1umiKo/3r3/GJ0e55NUTA2HiFeaVTC1TA/h3/K5scoezaQ_xxEUxl_NnHPO6alYV934Y9Qk2ZJCFDt9A> 



  *Stand with the #Kingsway5*

The first Palestine Action Crown Court trial is set to start on Monday 
14th November and is scheduled to last for 5-7 days. The five activists 
face charges of "conspiracy to commit criminal damage", after drenching 
Elbit's former London HQ in October 2020.

Mobilise outside Southwark Crown Court, 1 English Grounds, London, SE1 
2HU from 9.30AM on every day of the trial. Together, let's make it 
clear: #ElbitIsGuilty, Palestine Action is not!

Southwark Crown Court 
<https://click.actionnetwork.org/ss/c/GTcSsGdfDWzRRezYN3CORiBwsCjlWE-5XgMnT2uwtz0m6nLyEXUNZ4pJc4-fMoiCNNgZ-Fq8v6CjuMzE4hCD1lEbSlRwnuZLkGjcCTk7A2HWJtciagJ7Vt_7TEe4Du2ZOCuXUDh4PAS6qo8ljfQN_qUijItA63nF6vrWGJM5ZndF9dz2h0yd6T40mgF2hsQPgpM6JvyJjga-cOafzfQTRTfJLU0PMhhzgTP87zPWqopEtM-Fm8DFtXoaWGV6zFfWgdhXpqX4aebI7ZF4NAWhoYS2T2VpneYuokm5BtnYmfw3nKQzdrtgB4gh0ShBkImGdVGyA4_A39vVyo4IsjOE6rat-N10UpdnP7B7_Qovyt7Sr_8lxKxi3DBOAm8pSiT0/3r3/GJ0e55NUTA2HiFeaVTC1TA/h4/CRdbXdur2zjNhH3jFmZ14deq3wsZlVzq-yhi_PZXeLA> 



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