PALESTINE activists have removed two sculptures of Israel’s first president Chaim Weizmann from a display case at Manchester University.

They also sprayed at Cambridge University and targeted two leading zionist organisations in London: Britain Israel Communications and Research Centre (Bicom) and the Jewish National Fund (JNF).

Saturday’s action marked the anniversary of 1917’s British government statement, the Balfour Declaration, that Palestine would be made a Jewish homeland.

Following WWI, Britain assumed responsibility for Palestine under a League of Nations mandate. Three decades later, armed zionist militia forced over 750,000 Palestinians into exile and destroyed over 500 villages as the state of Israel was created.

Palestine Action said: “From the Balfour Declaration to today, Britain remains an active participant in the genocide, colonisation and occupation of Palestine.”

The direct-action group removed the sculptures in Manchester, while in Cambridge students sprayed the university’s Institute for Manufacturing red because of its the ongoing links with weapons firms arming Israel’s military and training Israeli police.

University of Manchester’s president and vice-chancellor, Duncan Ivison, said: “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.”