Update: Palestine Action share image with smashed bust of first Israeli president

Palestine Action have uploaded a image with the smashed bust of the first Israeli president, following its theft from the University of Manchester on Friday night last week.

The sculpture was a bust of Chaim Weizmann, a Zionist leader and the first president of Israel, who worked as a lecturer in chemistry at The University of Manchester.

This came to light after Palestine Action shared a video of two masked individuals smashing a display cabinet and removing two sculptures. In the video, the two masked individuals can be seen to smash the cabinet with what looks like a hammer before putting the two sculptures into bags.

Since the incident, The University of Manchester’s president and vice-chancellor, Duncan Ivison, released a statement on the fourth of November saying:

“On the evening of Friday, 1 November, intruders to the Chemistry Building smashed the window of a display cabinet and stole a bust of former University of Manchester academic, Chaim Weizmann, who later became the first President of Israel. It was one of several incidents committed around the country.

We have notified the police, who are investigating.

This was an act of vandalism and makes no contribution whatsoever to a better understanding of the current conflict in the Middle East.

Over more than a year, we have seen peaceful protests on campus and the exchange of strongly held views. We welcome this as part of our fundamental role as a university – a place dedicated to the discussion of often difficult ideas and beliefs.”