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Anti-Israeli graffiti on statue of Churchill leads to British arrest
A man has been arrested after the statue of Winston Churchill in London, England, was defaced with anti-Israeli graffiti.
The 38-year-old man was arrested shortly after 4 a.m. Friday after red paint was sprayed across the three-and-a-half-metre bronze monument in Parliament Square, just outside the Houses of Parliament. In a statement posted on X , Metropolitan Police say they arrested the man on “suspicion of racially aggravated criminal damage.”
Slogans painted across the statue and its plinth included “Zionist war criminal,” “Stop the Genocide” and “Free Palestine.” Additional graffiti read “Never again is now,” and “Globalise the intifada.”
The statue was cordoned off and cleaned Friday morning. Later in the day, police said the man “has been further arrested on suspicion of supporting Palestine Action which is a proscribed organisation under the Terrorism Act.”
Palestine Action has been designated a proscribed organizatio n under Britain’s Terrorism Act since June 2025, meaning membership or expressed support can constitute a criminal offence.
We are disgusted by the defacing of the Churchill statue in Parliament Square. In targeting the statue of a British hero who led this country in the fight against the Nazis, the perpetrator has found a perverse way to combine a hatred of Jews with a disdain for Britain. https://t.co/u6710Tg0eB
— Jewish Leadership Council (@JLC_uk) February 27, 2026
The Jewish Leadership Council condemned the vandalism in a statement on X , saying: “In targeting the statue of a British hero who led this country in the fight against the Nazis, the perpetrator has found a perverse way to combine a hatred of Jews with a disdain for Britain.”
The incident comes amid heightened scrutiny of protest slogans associated with anti-Israeli movements. In December 2025, the Metropolitan Police and Greater Manchester Police said in a joint statement that signs or chants of “globalize the intifada” would result in arrests. The decision came after the Bondi Beach attack in Australia and the arson attack at a synagogue in Manchester.
A Dutch group calling itself Free the Filton 24 NL — which supports the 24 people charged in connection with a 2024 break-in of Israeli defence company Elbit Systems — has claimed responsibility for the vandalism. The group posted an Instagram video showing a man in red coveralls reading “I support Palestine Action” defacing the statue.
While the police have not publicly identified the suspect, a man identifying himself as Olax Outis said in a pre-written statement that the act was intended to highlight what he described as “horrible human rights violations” by “colonisers who refuse to listen,” and portrayed Churchill as a symbol of “political corruption.”
The Churchill statue, unveiled in 1973, was created by British sculptor Ivor Roberts-Jones. It stands as one of 12 monuments in Parliament Square honouring world leaders, including Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi.
The monument has previously been targeted during major protests, including two incidents in 2020 in which someone painted “racist” on the statue’s plinth.
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