London’s Metropolitan Police are investigating a Nov. 20 incident in which an anti-Israel protester burned an Israeli flag at a Jewish student party, according to Britain’s Jewish News.
According to several witnesses, uninvited attendees shouted “Free Palestine” at the venue, and were warned by management that they would be removed if they repeated the chant, according to the report.
One of the anti-Israel activists approached the DJ stand at the Tuesday night event and began setting the Israeli flags on display on fire. The individual was stopped and removed. Police spoke to the individual and continue to investigate.
“At 00:00 hrs on Wednesday, 20 November officers were called to a venue in Curtain Road, Hackney. An off duty officer had detained a woman on suspicion of racially/religiously aggravated criminal damage,” a police spokesperson told Jewish News.
“During the altercation, a woman was seen to use a lighter to burn one of a number of Israeli flags that had been put up as decoration,” the spokesperson said, noting that initially police had determined that no further action should be taken, but following further review decided to investigate the matter fully.
StandWithUs U.K., the non-profit education group that hosted the event, condemned the flag burning, with the group’s spokesperson saying it was “appalled by the actions of the individual who felt that they could burn the emblems of the only Jewish state in the world during a party for Jewish students.”
Isaac Zarfati, the group’s executive director, said, “Despite the hateful actions, the event was a resounding success … StandWithUs U.K. will continue to support Zionist students on campus and will not be intimidated by the actions of a few to deter support for Israel.”
Jewish News also reported that Counter Terrorism Policing South East (CTPSE) had arrested 10 individuals linked to Palestine Action, a U.K.-based anti-Israel group which attacked a building of Israeli defense technology firm Elbit Systems U.K.
Warrants were granted on Thursday and police arrested the individuals on suspicion of the commission, preparation and instigation of acts of terrorism.
On Aug. 6, Palestine Action activists broke into the Bristol manufacturing hub of Elbit Systems.
“Palestine Action used a prison van to smash through the outer perimeter and the roller shutters into the building,” Jewish News reported. Six members of the group entered and damaged machinery and quadcopter drones.
Company employees and two police officers were also seriously assaulted.
Prior to the latest arrests, Palestine Action claimed it was facing criminal action against “16 political prisoners in Britain, 11 of which have not yet faced trial.”
The group complained that its activists “have been subjected to regular dawn raids, police harassment, stops at the airport and smear campaigns.”
On Nov. 2, Palestine Action carried out coordinated vandalism in several U.K. locations, including Manchester and Cambridge Universities.
Violence included defacing with red paint the Jewish National Fund offices in London and Cambridge University’s Institute of Manufacturing.
Palestine Action said it had targeted the Cambridge Institute because it partners with Rolls-Royce, Siemens and BAE Systems, which the group has accused of “perpetrating genocide.”
The vandalism marked the 107th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration of Nov. 2, 1917, a public statement by the British Government during World War I announcing its support for the establishment of a “national home for the Jewish people,” an important step in the political process leading to the creation of modern Israel.
The declaration was due mainly to the efforts of Chaim Weizmann, who led world Jewry following WWI and became Israel’s first president.
In perhaps their most brazen act, Palestine Action activists smashed a glass display case at the university’s chemistry building and stole two busts of Weizmann, posting a video of the theft on social media.
It said it had “abducted” the busts in protest against the Balfour Declaration, which it claimed “began the ethnic cleansing of Palestine by signing the land away.”
The Jewish Representative Council of Greater Manchester & Region said in a statement that the community has always been proud of Weizmann and his accomplishments.
It described Palestine Action as “criminals” and said its destructive acts were part of a “pattern of behavior” targeting “institutions and businesses who are linked with the State of Israel or businesses they perceive to undertake trade with Israel.”
The council urged the authorities and Home Secretary to bring the full force of the law against the group.
In June, Palestine Action took credit for vandalizing 10 Barclays bank branches across the United Kingdom, smashing windows and defacing their exteriors with red paint. It claimed that Barclays “funds climate destruction and genocide in Palestine.”
The group took credit for Barclays’ decision to sell 16,345 Elbit shares worth more than $3.4 million. Barclays denied it had sold the shares due to the group’s year-long pressure campaign.
In March, an anti-Israel activist was filmed by Palestine Action defacing and slashing a 1914 painting of Lord Arthur Balfour at Trinity College, which is part of Cambridge University.
“Normally our direct action campaign is focused on Israel’s weapons trade in Britain. However, it’s necessary to highlight Britain’s historic and current role in the colonization of Palestine which roots back to the Balfour declaration,” the group posted on social media.
