UK Jury Convicts Activists Who Covered a Picasso With Image of Gazan Mother and Child at the National Gallery

Two activists affiliated with Youth Demand, a group calling for the British government to end economic trade with Israel as well as the cessation of new licenses for fossil fuels, were found guilty of criminal damage after covering a Picasso painting with an image of a mother and child in Gaza. Jai Halai, age 25, and Monday-Malachi Rosenfeld, 23, were convicted by a jury over the incident at the National Gallery in London in October 2024.  

As reported by Jewish News, “During the protest, they placed a large photograph of a mother and child from Gaza over the protective glass protecting Picasso’s 1901 painting Motherhood before pouring water-based paint onto the gallery floor and chanting slogans calling for Britain to end trade with Israel.”

The painting was not damaged as a result of the action, but the floor of the gallery required repair after paint seeped down. Michael Willie, the National Gallery’s head of security and facilities, reportedly said during the trial: “Paint was on the marble skirting, stanchion, rope barriers, and it was seeping into the sockets. Just staining in the grains of the marble, the mastic joint, we had to replace it in its entirety.”

Jurors were told the protest cost the National Gallery £8,000, around $10,600, to be able to reopen the gallery the following day. Halai and Rosenfeld were released on bail in advance of sentencing, which is scheduled for September.