Two activists pasted the image of a Palestinian woman and her bloodied child onto Pablo Picasso’s painting “Maternity” at the National Gallery in London, to call for an arms embargo against Israel, according to the organization which they belong to, Youth Demand.
During their protest action, carried out shortly before noon, the activists pasted the photograph of a mother in Gaza with her son on the protective glass of the work completed by Picasso in 1901, before pouring red paint on the floor of room 43 of the museum. A museum spokesperson confirmed that no paintings were damaged during the protest action.
The group, which also brandished the slogan “genocidal conference” at the entrance to the Labor conference in September in Liverpool, demanded in a statement that the British government impose an embargo on the sale of arms to Israel and that it put end to the granting of new weapons. oil and gas licenses.
The activists were identified by Youth Demand as Jai Halai, 23, who works for the NHS in London, and Monday-Malachi Rosenfeld, a 21-year-old student.
According to a police spokesperson quoted by ‘The Times’ newspaper, both were arrested and are still in custody, while the museum room has been closed to allow the investigation.
