Banksy mural shows judge beating protester amid Palestine Action crackdown

Anonymous street artist Banksy has unveiled a new mural on London’s High Court, depicting a judge striking a protester with a gavel, in what appears to be a commentary on the mass arrests of demonstrators backing the banned campaign group Palestine Action.

The anonymous artist shared images of the work on Instagram on Monday. The stencilled piece shows a bewigged judge bringing down a gavel on a protester sprawled on the ground, clutching a blood-stained placard.

The mural was painted days after nearly 900 people were detained during a protest in London opposing the government’s proscription of Palestine Action.

The artwork has since been fully covered up by British police, after attracting curious bystanders.

In July, Britain designated the activist network a “terrorist organisation” after its members stormed a Royal Air Force base and damaged military aircraft. Supporting or belonging to the group now carries criminal penalties.

But rights groups and campaigners have accused the British government of criminalising pro-Palestinian activism, saying the ban threatens the right to peaceful protest.

Lawyers and civil liberties advocates argue that proscribing Palestine Action sets a dangerous precedent for restricting activism on foreign policy issues, with Amnesty International calling the decision by the Labour government “a disturbing legal overreach”.

Banksy has long used his work to highlight Palestinian struggles under Israeli occupation. His murals in the occupied West Bank include ones that depict a girl conducting a body search on an Israeli soldier, a dove wearing a flak jacket, and a masked protester hurling a bouquet.

In 2017, he opened the “Walled Off Hotel” in Bethlehem, designed to offer what he called “the worst view in the world,” a direct reference to Israel’s separation barrier known as the apartheid wall, which stands in front of the hotel.

The wall that stretches for more than 700km (435 miles) on Palestinian land inside the occupied West Bank was termed illegal by the International Court of Justice in 2004.

One of his most famous West Bank works, a rat armed with a slingshot, was painted near Bethlehem in 2007. The artwork was later removed by Israeli art dealers and displayed in a Tel Aviv art gallery in 2022.

The move was condemned by Jeries Qumsieh, a spokesperson for the Palestinian Ministry of Tourism, who told The Guardian at the time: “This is theft of the property of the Palestinian people.”

“These were paintings by an international artist for Bethlehem, for Palestine, and for visitors to Bethlehem and Palestine. So transferring them, manipulating them and stealing them is definitely an illegal act,” Qumsieh had said.

The latest London mural has already been cordoned off with protective barriers, underscoring both the value of Banksy’s art and the controversy it generates. While the artist rarely explains his creations, his consistent focus on Palestine ensures this new work will be seen as a sharp critique of Britain’s clampdown on pro-Palestine activism.

For many of his supporters, the High Court mural is not just about Palestine Action but also a broader reflection on how state power and the judiciary are wielded against movements challenging Britain’s political establishment.