UK police arrest 5 for theft and beheading of Weizmann statue in Manchester

A total of five people have now been arrested in Manchester, UK, following acts of vandalism committed by the ‘Palestine Action’ group on the anniversary of the Balfour Declaration which paved the way for the rebirth of the modern state of Israel.

“Two men and two women aged between 20 and 34, were detained on suspicion of aggravated burglary, after the reported theft of statue busts at a university building on Oxford Road, Manchester on Friday 1 November,” read the Greater Manchester Police (GMP) statement.

“These were a bust of Chaim Weizmann and a bust of Harold Baily Dixon that were stolen, these were later defaced publicly. Both were chemistry academics and Weizmann was the first president of Israel.”

A fifth arrest was made earlier in the case, and a 25-year-old man remains on bail, GMP stated.

On the anniversary of the 1917 Balfour Declaration on Nov. 2, the controversial group posted footage of masked members smashing glass cabinets with axes, saying they were ‘abducting’ the statues. 

Following the theft, the group published an image of one of the busts without a head, with the caption: “First bust of Weizmann is dead. Soon, his Zionist project will be too!”

In another video, the vandals showed the busts defaced with the words “smash Zionism” with Arab keffiyehs draped behind them.

The Daily Telegraph reported that the group mistakenly stole a statue of Dixon, believing it to be one of Weizmann, after originally claiming that they snatched two depicting Weizmann.

Weizmann’s innovation as a chemist, particularly his acetone production method during the First World War, was a significant part of the British war industry. He became friends with then-Foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour, at a time when the predominantly Christian UK War Cabinet was united in support of a Jewish homeland.

“In Greater Manchester, we have always supported people’s democratic right to peaceful protest and have seen how people can bring their voices together in this way many times across the region, however, what we will not tolerate is those intent on committing criminal acts,” said Detective Chief Inspector Jill Billington, on the day of the arrests, last week.

The Jerusalem Post reported last month that the UK Home Office may consider banning the Palestine Action group, which began its anti-Israel protests and vandalism in 2020. Since then, group members have been arrested, and some jailed, for violent attacks on buildings and property, including Jewish institutions.

In early October, the co-founder of Palestine Action, Richard Barnard, appeared in court on three charges, including support for Hamas, proscribed in the United Kingdom as a terrorist organization, along with two counts of encouraging criminal activity.

In August, seven people were charged with violent disorder, burglary, and other offenses following an attack by Palestine Action on a warehouse linked to the Israeli defense firm Elbit Systems.