Police are investigating a hate crime after an anti-Israel protest group launched a campaign of vandalism and stole two busts of Israel’s first president on the anniversary of the Balfour Declaration.

Palestine Action claimed responsibility on social media after the headquarters of the Britain Israel Communications and Research Centre (Bicom), a pro-Israel advocacy organisation, and the Jewish National Fund (JNF), were sprayed with red paint in London.

November 2 marked the 107 year anniversary of the Balfour Declaration, which the campaign group said "began the ethnic cleansing of Palestine by signing the land away."

Palestine Action shared footage showing two people wearing balaclavas using hammers to smash into a glass cabinet inside the chemistry faculty at Manchester University and seizing a sculpture of Chaim Weizmann’s head. 

The Russian-born biochemist is considered to have been key to convincing the British government to issue the Balfour Declaration, which backed the Jewish claim to a national homeland in Palestine.

Manchester University said it had reported the incident to the police.

At the University of Cambridge, Palestine Action sprayed red paint on Senate House, which is used for graduation ceremonies, and the Institute of Manufacturing.

"Balfour, who signed away the land of Palestine, was educated by the university,” the group said afterwards. “Today, the institute works with weapons companies arming genocide.”

The group claimed they had been assisted by students at Cambridge University.

The Metropolitan police said they were investigating the vandalism against Bicom’s building as a potential hate crime.

Detective Chief Inspector Paul Ridley said: “I know that incidents like this cause significant concern in the community. I want to offer my full reassurance that this incident will be robustly investigated. We have been clear that we have zero tolerance for hate crime.”

Bicom said they were “appalled” by the attack on its premises and called on the home secretary, Yvette Cooper, and the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, to “do more” to end Palestine Action’s campaign of intimidation.

"These cowardly, violent acts of domestic terrorism do nothing to support the situation in the Middle East; and only threaten and endanger British citizens,” they said.

Palestine Action also claimed responsibility for spraying red paint on the headquarters of the the JNF in Hendon.

The organisation, which bought large tracts of land in the Ottoman Empire and Mandate Palestine to enable the creation of the Israeli state, today owns around 15 per cent of all land in Israel. In 2021, its board voted to allow the purchase of land in the West Bank for the first time to enable the expansion of Israeli settlements. 

Lord Walney, the government’s adviser on political violence said he was thinking of Jewish students in the wake of a “sustained campaign of violence and intimidation” by Palestine Action.

He wrote: “Ministers must be coming closer to the view that their actions meet the definition of terrorism, and considering proscription or other restrictions.”

In a statement, Palestine Action said: “From the Balfour Declaration to today, the UK remains an active participant in the colonisation, genocide and occupation of Palestine.

“On behalf of Britain, Balfour promised away the land of Palestine – which he never had the right to do.”

Palestine Action have previously broken into arms firms across Britain that it accuses of supplying weapons to Israel to spray red paint and damage machinery.

Earlier this year, activists broke into a building owned by Elbit Systems UK and used sledge hammers to smash its windows.

Phil Rosenberg, the president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, said: “All thinking people should condemn the thuggery and vandalism in London, Manchester and Cambridge this Shabbat by the ‘Palestine Action’ group.

“The defacement of buildings housing British Jewish charities and university property is intended to harass and intimidate. The environment it creates serves to make many Jews feel targeted and unsafe in this country, and ruins the public realm for the law-abiding public.

“These actions must be punished with the full force of the law and we will be working with Government, police and university authorities to ensure that a firm line is drawn between legitimate protest and violent extremism.”