In the pre-dawn hours of Friday, February 27th, a stark message appeared on one of London’s most iconic landmarks: the statue of Winston Churchill in Parliament Square. Red paint blazed across the bronze figure, branding the wartime leader a ‘Zionist war criminal.’
Alongside this accusation, other phrases were hastily sprayed onto the monument – “Stop the Genocide” and “Free Palestine,” echoing the intense emotions surrounding current global conflicts. The chilling addition of “Never again is Now” and “Globalise the Intifada” further underscored the political motivations behind the act.
Police responded with remarkable speed, arriving on the scene within two minutes of the initial report. A 38-year-old man was immediately apprehended on suspicion of racially aggravated criminal damage and remains in police custody.
The statue itself was quickly cordoned off as cleaning crews worked to remove the defacement. This incident isn’t isolated; Churchill’s statue has become a focal point for protest and vandalism in recent years, reflecting the complex and often controversial legacy of the former Prime Minister.
In June 2020, during the height of the Black Lives Matter movement sparked by the death of George Floyd, the statue was similarly targeted with graffiti accusing Churchill of racism. Later that year, an Extinction Rebellion activist faced legal consequences – over £1,500 in fines – for painting the word “racist” on the statue’s base during a climate demonstration.
The monument, a twelve-foot tribute sculpted by Ivor Roberts-Jones and unveiled in 1973 by Lady Clementine Churchill, stands among a distinguished collection of twelve statues in Parliament Square. It shares space with figures like Abraham Lincoln and Nelson Mandela, each representing pivotal moments in history.
Recent pronouncements from both the Metropolitan and Greater Manchester Police have signaled a zero-tolerance policy towards the chanting of “globalise the intifada,” a slogan deemed to incite unrest, particularly in the wake of recent terror attacks. This latest act of vandalism underscores the ongoing tensions and the statue’s position as a symbolic battleground for deeply held beliefs.
