“The painting was apparently targeted because of the university’s ties to Israel.”

Kommersant FM columnist Dmitry Butkevich talks about what and why happened to the portrait of Lord Arthur Balfour.

A recent craze – vandalism of works of art in museums around the world – is acquiring new forms and justifications. In general, unfortunately, this was to be expected.

Previously, environmental activists raged, pouring soup on the paintings. Recently, supporters of reforms in the healthcare system spoke out by writing an obscene word on the sculpture, which has now reached Israel’s political opponents. I can’t understand why all these activists have such hatred for art.

Here at the University of Cambridge, in the famous Trinity College, someone has just poured red spray paint on a portrait of Lord Balfour, a painting by Philip Alexius de Laszlo from 1914. I poured it on it, and then almost completely cut the canvas into pieces. The video of this action was shared by Palestine Action.

It is worth recalling Lord Arthur Balfour, Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom in 1917. The Balfour Declaration, considered one of the most controversial documents in 20th-century history, was Britain’s public pledge of support for the creation of a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine. The promise took the form of a letter from Balfour and was addressed to Lionel Walter Rothschild, a prominent figure in the British Jewish community.

This declaration formed the basis of the British Mandate for Palestine and later, in 1948, paved the way for the creation of the State of Israel and the subsequent Nakba (a Palestinian term for the displacement of 750,000 Palestinians).

In addition to Balfour’s reputation among Palestinians, the painting was apparently targeted because of Cambridge University’s ties to Israel. According to research by Arab journalists, Trinity College is investing in the weapons industry of the Jewish state.

Since then, international organizations supporting Palestinians have warned Trinity College that such investments could make its staff and shareholders “potential complicit in Israeli war crimes against humanity.” I understand everything, but why cut the pictures?