The work, a stop sign decorated with what appears to be a trio of military drones, was stolen just one hour after the street artist posted an image of the work to Instagram on December 22.

A man referred to only as Alex told the Sun that two people, using a Lime bicycle as a makeshift ladder, removed the street sign with bolt cutters after one of the two “bashed it with his hands” in a failed attempt to remove the sign from its post.

“I opened Instagram and I saw it was posted four minutes before and I was about to go on my lunch break,” Alex told the Sun. “There were about two people there when I got there. We were all sort of admiring it and taking pictures.”

The alleged crooks stole the work at around 12:30 p.m., in full view of the crowd that had gathered to admire the mysterious Banksy’s newest work. Images of the two men, unmasked and in plain view, were posted to the tabloid’s website.

The first arrest came the following day when London’s Metropolitan police took a man into custody on suspicion of theft and criminal damage. The second arrest was made on Sunday.

While Banksy himself never explains the art he installs under the cover of night, much of what his work has an overt antiwar message. Some of the artist’s more than 12 million Instagram followers have viewed the drone-emblazoned stop sign as a call for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

Banksy and his artwork often make headlines. Earlier this year, his possible identity was revealed in a recently uncovered, decades-old interview on the BBC, and there has been news coverage about his artworks being removed, demolished, or restored throughout 2023.

The letter was published on November 30 by the organization Artists for Palestine UK, which in October published a widely circulated letter demanding a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, where thousands of people have been killed as a result of Israeli airstrikes since the October 7 Hamas attack. That attack killed 1,400 Israelis and involved the taking of more than 200 hostages, more than 100 of which have reportedly been released.

This new letter addresses Lisson Gallery’s postponement of a London exhibition by Ai Weiwei following a since-deleted tweet by the artist that was critical of US aid to Israel; the Museum Folkwang’s abrupt shuttering of curator Anaïs Duplan’s contribution to planned a group show due to Duplan’s engagement with pro-Palestine content on social media; and the Saarland Museum’s cancelation of a solo exhibition of South African artist Candice Breitz, who had called for a ceasefire while also condemning Hamas.

“In each case the institution attributed the cancellation to comments made by the artist in support of Palestinian rights and unrelated to the content of their professional work,” the letter states, adding that the art organizations mentioned have a “disturbing double standard”: “Expressions of solidarity readily offered to other peoples facing brutal oppression, have not been extended to Palestinians”. 

Also mentioned was the Arnolfini, Bristol’s international center for contemporary arts, which faced backlash for canceling two events that were part of the city’s Palestine Film Festival. In a statement, the institution said it withdrew from hosting the poetry reading and film screening because, as an arts charity, it was not permitted to promote what could be “construed as political activity.”

The letter continues to warn that “many artists are refusing to work with institutions that fail to meet [these] basic obligations” to uphold freedom of expression and anti-discrimination when it comes to speech on Palestine. 

In November, more than 2,000 poets pledged to boycott the Poetry Foundation after its journal refused to publish Joshua Gutterman’s review of Sam Sax’s collection PIG because it engaged with anti-Zionists politics, per Lithub. Four poets—Noor Hindi, Summer Farah, Omar Sakr, and George Abraham—published an open letter to the board of the Poetry Foundation and the editors of its sister publication, Poetry, in which they called on their peers to boycott the organization “until such time as they have demonstrated they are on the side of humanity.”

Meanwhile, writers, artists, and curators are also boycotting Artforum after editor David Velasco was fired following the publication of a letter that called for a ceasefire in Gaza and Palestinian liberation. Signed by thousands of well-known artists—as well as Velasco and other Artforum staffers—the letter was criticized by some because it initially failed to note the October 7 Hamas attack. (The magazine’s publishers said the way the letter was run was “not consistent with Artforum’s editorial process” because the article “was shared on Artforum’s website and social platforms without our, or the requisite senior members of the editorial team’s, prior knowledge.”) Shortly after Velasco was fired and two senior editors quit, hundreds of Artforum contributors past and present said they would no longer contribute to the magazine or to ARTnews and Art in America, which are also owned by Penske Media Corporation.

Protests and demonstrations have grown in frequency and intensity since the October 7 attack on Israel by the militant organization Hamas, and subsequent military bombardment and invasion of Gaza, as the political schism between artists, patrons, and museum workers has continued to widen. 

On Wednesday, November 22, the main entrance of the Whitney was splashed with fake blood as protestors shouted, among other slogans, “Ken Griffin is a terrorist,” referring to former Whitney board member and Citadel CEO who recently condemned pro-Palestine student groups at his alma mater, Harvard University.  

Per Forbes, Griffin has donated $450 million to Harvard within the last decade, including a $300 million gift to its Faculty of Arts and Sciences earlier this year.

Griffin provided the following statement to ARTnews: “Free speech is a sacrosanct constitutional protection afforded to all Americans and defacing the Whitney with red paint is not the lawful exercise of free speech, it is vandalism. Ken opposed the anti-Israel protests that occurred inside the museum a few years ago because our nation’s cultural institutions must be welcoming to all communities. No child should ever feel threatened because of their race or religion when walking into an American art museum.”

The demonstration at the Whitney coincided with a march for Gaza in Manhattan, during which protestors traveled along the west side of Manhattan, but were barred by police from entering The High Line, the suspended public park that passes by the museum. A video posted to social media by Within Our Lifetime (WOL), a Palestinian-led community organization, shows the museum’s steps and revolving front door doused in red paint. According to a report in Hyperallergic last week, no arrests were made. 

The Whitney is no stranger to activist campaigns. In November 2018, Hyperallergic detailed links between billionaire hedge-funder Warren Kanders, then a Whitney board member, and defense contractor Safariland, LLC. Days before the report, it was revealed that tear-gas canisters bearing Safariland logos were launched by migrants attempting to cross the U.S.-Mexico border. The tear gas was also used against protestors against police violence by police in Baltimore, Ferguson, and elsewhere. The revelation ignited an eight-month activist campaign to remove Kanders, who owned Safariland, from the Whitney board.

On November 23, Thanksgiving Day for Americans, a rally that began at the New York Public Library in Manhattan resulted in as much as $75,000 in graffiti damage to the historic structure, per Gothamist. Pro-Palestine activists reportedly sprayed Free Palestine and smeared red handprints on the marble fountain and part of the facade engraved with the name of Stephen A. Schwarzman, CEO of the investment management firm Blackstone and a former Trump advisor. Schwarzman donated $100 million to the library in 2008 for renovations and pledged $7 million in aid to Israel in October.  

Following the protest, WOL wrote on Instagram, “We started at Madison square park and throughout the city disrupting shopping, transportation, and ultimately the celebration and normalization of the genocide of the indigenous people of turtle island and the indigenous people of Palestine, both carried out by settler colonies the United States and Israel.”

New York Public Library officials, for their part, said in a statement that they have not launched a fundraising campaign to pay for the graffiti cleanup: “This comes at a time when the city’s libraries are facing steep budget cuts that have left us unable to maintain our current levels of service, and this vandalism will be costly to repair.”

“We do not anticipate any unplanned closures due to this, and remain committed to providing the resources we know so many people rely on,” the library spokesperson added.

Then, on Saturday, November 25, hundreds of pro-Palestine demonstrators gathered at Columbus Circle and marched north until they reached the American Museum of Natural History.

In a video posted to Instagram by WOL, protestors chanted outside the museum “Israel bombs, U.S.A. pays. How many kids did you kill today?” and carried Palestinian flags and signs that read, “Cease Genocide” and “Free Gaza.” Protesters attempted to enter the museum, but were blocked by police. 

The nonviolent rally took place on the second day of a pause of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza to allow the release of hostages held by Hamas in exchange for Palestinians held in Israeli prisons, and the delivery of fuel, food, and other humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza.

Since the October 7 attack on Israel that left 1,200 dead and some 240 people taken hostage into Gaza, at least 14,000 Palestinians have been killed during Israel’s assault, per statistics provided by the Gaza Ministry of Health. According to the World Health Organization, women and children comprise nearly 70 percent of deaths in Gaza.  

Nerdeen Kiswani, a representative of WOL and an organizer of Saturday’s protest, told West Side Rag, a news outlet dedicated to the neighborhood where the American Natural History Museum is located, that WOL does not consider this a legitimate humanitarian pause. Kiswani cited reports that Palestinians attempting to return to northern Gaza during the pause have been barred from entry by threat of gunfire from Israeli troops.

“So, despite this so-called pause, our protests won’t cease,” she said. “We will persist as we have in the past weeks.” 

Update 11/28/23: A previous version of this article said Griffin had threatened to cut philanthropic ties with the university over a letter published by student activists that was critical of Israel; Griffin said he would not hire any head of such student organizations. The article has also been updated with a statement from Griffin.

Demonstrators at the National Park Service–managed statue—one of the most highly-trafficked monuments in the United States—called for an immediate end to the violence in Gaza, which has nearly 10,000 people, per statistics shared this week by the local Ministry of Health.

Israel launched its military campaign in retaliation for the October 7 attack by Hamas that involved killing 1,400 citizens, wounding 3,500 more, and taking some 200 hostages. Some of those hostages have since been released.

In a statement posted on X, Jewish Voice for Peace said, “Hundreds of Jews and allies are holding an emergency sit-in, taking over the island to demand a ceasefire in Gaza. We refuse to allow a genocide to be carried out in our names.”

Demonstrators dressed in matching shirts that read “Not in Our Name” and “Ceasefire Now,” and brandished large banners featured the messages “Never Again For Anyone”, “The Whole World Is Watching”, and “Palestinians Should Be Free.”

“As long as the people of Gaza are screaming, we need to yell louder,” Goldin said at the event, which followed a similar action at Manhattan’s Grand Central Terminal. That protest was reportedly the largest demonstration the historic train station had ever seen. 

A spokesperson for Jewish Voice for Peace said there had been no damage to the statue and the surrounding park, and that no arrests were made during the protest.

Liberty Island is home to Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi’s iconic Liberty Enlightening the World (1886), as well as the $100 million Statue of Liberty Museum, which opened in 2019.

On Friday, Kate Sutton, an associate editor at Artforum since 2018, announced on X that she had officially resigned. On Saturday, Zack Hatfield and Chloe Wyma, both of whom were senior editors at Artforum, also announced that they had resigned. ARTnews has also learned that Emily LaBarge, a London-based contributor who edited international reviews, has severed ties with Artforum.

“The firing of David Velasco violates everything I had cherished about the magazine and makes my work there untenable,” Wyma wrote on X.

Meanwhile, prominent artists Nan Goldin and Nicole Eisenman told the New York Times that they would no longer work with Artforum, with Goldin describing the current environment as the most “chilling period” she’s ever lived through.

Velasco’s firing came after Artforum published an open letter calling for a ceasefire in Gaza on October 19. The letter, signed by thousands of artists, also appeared in e-flux and Hyperallergic, and had circulated as a Google document before it was published on those websites and Artforum. Velasco, along with several other members of Artforum’s staff, signed the letter, although it is still unclear who initially wrote it.

“We support Palestinian liberation and call for an end to the killing and harming of all civilians, an immediate ceasefire, the passage of humanitarian aid into Gaza, and the end of the complicity of our governing bodies in grave human rights violations and war crimes,” the letter published on Artforum reads.

After the letter was published, it became the subject of blowback, with dealers Dominique Lévy, Brett Gorvy, and Amalia Dayan writing a statement on Artforum in which they condemned it for failing to mention the Hamas attack on October 7 that killed 1,400 Israelis and involved the taking of 200 hostages.

Another letter signed by major dealers and artists also began to circulate; its subject was an “uninformed letter” in an unnamed publication, and it made a call for “empathy” after the Hamas attack. That second letter did not mention the thousands of Gazans who have been killed by Israeli airstrikes, as reported by the local health ministry.

As pressure mounted, Artforum’s letter continued to shift, with added texts mentioning “revulsion” over the Hamas attack and a preface that the letter “was not composed, directed, or initiated by Artforum or its staff.” Some names also dropped from the signatories.

Artforum publishers Danielle McConnell and Kate Koza put a post on the Artforum website earlier this week saying that the letter was posted to the site and to social media “without our, or the requisite senior members of the editorial team’s, prior knowledge,” and that doing so was “not consistent with Artforum’s editorial process.”

After he was fired, Velasco, who became editor in 2017, told the Times, “I have no regrets. I’m disappointed that a magazine that has always stood for freedom of speech and the voices of artists has bent to outside pressure.”

Penske Media Corporation, which owns both ARTnews and Artforum, did not respond to a request for a comment.

The UNESCO-affiliated organization published the statement on its website today, writing, “Icom expresses its deep concern about the current violence affecting Israeli and Palestinian civilians and deplores the significant humanitarian consequences that the conflict has had over the past weeks.”

The short statement does not directly address Hamas, instead calling on “all parties to respect international law and conventions,” including the 1954 Hague Convention that established protections for cultural property during times of war. 

ICOM says it “expects an immediate ceasefire in respect of international humanitarian law in order to prevent further loss of human life and safeguard cultural heritage – which is essential to our collective humanity – and reaffirms its commitment to the principles of peace, understanding, and unity through the preservation and protection of cultural heritage.”

The ICOM statement comes three weeks after Hamas led an attack that killed more than 1,000 Israelis. Some 200 hostages were taken by Hamas; several have since been released. Israel’s military responded by cutting off food, water, and electricity, and launched sustained airstrikes that have killed more than 6,500 people in Gaza, according to its health ministry. 

Against the backdrop of these events, the director of every major museum in Israel signed an open letter calling on ICOM to condemn Hamas “with the utmost fervor.” The open letter was published on October 22 by the Israeli division of ICOM.

ICOM has previously published statements in support of Ukraine following its invasion by Russia in 2022, and against anti-Black racism in the United States after the murder of George Floyd in 2020. 

Earlier this month, an array of artists and art professionals signed an open letter that was circulated by Artforum and e-flux, and called for an end to “institutional silence around the ongoing humanitarian crisis that 2.3 million Palestinians are facing in the occupied and besieged Gaza Strip be broken immediately.” (After Artforum ran the letter, dealers Dominique Lévy, Brett Gorvy, and Amalia Dayan wrote a response in which they said they “condemn the open letter for its one-sided view,” since the original letter did not include mention of the Hamas attack.)

The United Arab Emirates–based Sharjah Art Foundation, which organizes the prestigious Sharjah Biennial, wrote on Instagram that it stands “firmly in solidarity with Palestine in the face of devastating genocide being carried out on Gazans and the 75 yeas of ongoing illegal Israeli occupation,” while Qatar Museums projected the Palestinian flag onto the facade of the Museum of Islamic Art shortly after the Gaza siege began.

Most US museums have refrained from commenting on the situation in Palestine and Israel. New York’s El Museo del Barrio, one of the few institutions to have done so, issued a statement in which it wrote, “During these fraught times, we continue to host visitors and artists of diverse and differing beliefs and viewpoints.” The museum added that its “sympathies go out to those who are directly, or indirectly by way of diaspora or heritage, affected by the conflict.” 

On October 7, Hamas led on an attack on Israel that involved killing 1,400 citizens, wounding 3,500 more, and taking more than 200 hostages. (Just a few have been released.) Israel’s military responded by cutting off food, water, and electricity, and launched sustained airstrikes that have killed more than 3,000 people in Gaza, according to its health ministry. Last week, Israel ordered more than 1 million Palestinians who live in northern Gaza to evacuate the region, a move that the United Nations said is “not feasible” and “could transform what is already a tragedy into a calamitous situation.”

Against the backdrop of these events, some have called on art institutions to release statements in support of both Israel and Palestine.

Earlier this month, Katya Kazakina published an Artnet column in which she condemned the art world for its “deafening silence after the Hamas attack in Israel.” Meanwhile, an array of artists and art professionals signed an open letter that was circulated by Artforum and e-flux and called for and end to “institutional silence around the ongoing humanitarian crisis that 2.3 million Palestinians are facing in the occupied and besieged Gaza Strip be broken immediately.” (After Artforum ran the letter, dealers Dominique Lévy, Brett Gorvy, and Amalia Dayan wrote a response in which they said they “condemn the open letter for its one-sided view,” since the original letter did not include mention of the Hamas attack.)

In the past week, statements have begun to emerge from institutions across the globe. Several based in the Middle East came out in favor of Palestine.

The United Arab Emirates–based Sharjah Art Foundation, which organizes the prestigious Sharjah Biennial, wrote on Instagram that it “firmly in solidarity with Palestine in the face of devastating genocide being carried out on Gazans and the 75 yeas of ongoing illegal Israeli occupation.”

The Jameel Arts Centre in Dubai wrote on Instagram that its team “mourns the loss of all the innocents lives and stands with Palestinians colleagues their friends and families, and all those affected by the devastating assault on Gaza.” The center is managed by Art Jameel, an organization which also oversees Hayy Jameel, an arts complex in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

The Qatar Museums has not explicitly condemned the siege of Gaza, but it did appear to throw their support behind Palestine, projecting its flag onto the facade of the Museum of Islamic Art shortly after the Hamas attack. “Oh Allah, we entrust Palestine and its people to you,” wrote Sheikha Al-Mayassa, the sister of Qatar’s ruling Emir and chairperson of Qatar Museums, in an Instagram post featuring images of the projection.

Most museums in the US have not commented at all on the situation. New York’s El Museo del Barrio, one of the few institutions to have done so, issued a statement in which it wrote, “During these fraught times, we continue to host visitors and artists of diverse and differing beliefs and viewpoints.” The museum said its “sympathies go out to those who are directly, or indirectly by way of diaspora or heritage, affected by the conflict.” 

The Jewish Museum in New York took a less ambiguous stance, writing, “We stand in solidarity with the people of Israel during this challenging time and express our heartfelt condolences to the families who have lost their loved ones or who have been taken hostage in these senseless acts.”

Meanwhile, the director of every major museum in Israel signed an open letter calling on the International Council of Museums (ICOM) to condemn Hamas “with the utmost fervor.” The open letter was published on October 22 by the Israeli division of ICOM, an affiliate organization of UNESCO which suggests ethical standards for museums worldwide.

On October 7, roughly 1,400 Israeli citizens were murdered, while another 3,500 were wounded, and 200 hostages taken during a brutal attack by members of Hamas, the militant organization that governs Gaza. In response to the act of terrorism, the Israeli military cut off food, water, and electricity to Gaza and began a campaign of sustained airstrikes on the region that has killed more than 3,000 Palestinians civilians and injured over four times that, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health.

Last week, Israel ordered more than one million Palestinians who live in northern Gaza to evacuate, which the United Nations deemed was “not feasible” and “could transform what is already a tragedy into a calamitous situation.”

The open letter, signed by a number of arts and cultural leaders, stated that the 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza are suffering a “collective punishment on an unimaginable scale” from Israel and called for “the end of the complicity of our governing bodies in grave human rights violations and war crimes.” The letter ended with a direct appeal to arts organizations and institutions “to refuse inhumanity, which has no place in life or art”.

The Israeli art community responded with a statement of its own posted to Instagram Saturday. “What’s most upsetting is the complete absence of any mention of over 200 people kidnapped, most of them civilians, including babies, children, old and sick people,” it read. “[T]he hostages are not part of the humanity they are appealing for. By omission, they are giving legitimacy to the abduction of civilians.”

The statement continued, “By ignoring the rights of all who live in Israel, it’s as if those who signed the letter are dehumanizing all of those who live in Israel, the 9 million people who have a right to exist.”

Ultimately, they argued that making “a general statement” condemning the violence “undermines the moral stance taken by the letter’s signatories.”

It ends with an appeal for unity among groups that have been impacted by the conflict, with “no contradiction between staunchly opposing the Israeli occupation and the crimes in Gaza, and unequivocally condemning brutal acts of violence against innocent civilians in Israel.”

The blast was first reported by Gaza-based Palestinian Ministry. Investigators at the Washington Post geolocated the location of the strike based on a video showing Palestinians searching through the rubble of the building in Gaza City.

The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem has blamed Israel for the attack. The Israel Defense Forces told the Post that a missile targeting an alleged Hamas hideout “damaged the wall of a church in the area” and that it is “aware of reports on casualties.” The IDF is reportedly “reviewing” the incident.

The foundation of the Church of St. Porphyrius dates to the 5th century, and the current structure was completed in the 12th century. It is named after the former bishop of Gaza, Saint Porphyrius, and was located atop the place he is believed to have died in BCE 420. Like the few remaining structures of the Crusader age, it was resplendently decorated inside and built with thickly fortified walls. The church served as a longtime shelter for Gaza’s Christian minority and Muslim community.

During the 2014 bombardment of Gaza, the church welcomed some 1,000 Palestinian Muslims who fled Israeli shells, per Reuters.

At the time of Thursday’s blast, hundreds of displaced Palestinians were camped inside. As of this morning, rescuers were still searching the rubble for survivors.

The Order of St. George, an associated order of the Church of St. Porphyrius, released a statement today, saying, “Archbishop Alexios appears to have been located and is alive, but we don’t know if he is injured.” The church spokesperson said that the blast hit “two church halls where the refugees, including children and babies, were sleeping.”

“Silence at this urgent time of crisis and escalating genocide is not a politically neutral position,” the letter reads. “Over the last few years there have been significant steps to institutionally address social justice and inequality and also for your artistic programmes to benefit from these politics. We now ask that they continue and be extended in recognising the crimes against humanity that the Palestinian people are facing.”

Some 1,400 Israeli citizens were murdered, while another 3,500 were wounded, and 200 hostages taken during a brutal attack on October 7 by members of Hamas, the militant organization that governs Gaza. The Israel military responded to the terrorism by cutting off food, water, and electricity and sustained airstrikes that have killed more than 3,000 Palestinians civilians, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health. Last week, Israel ordered more than 1 million Palestinians who live in northern Gaza to evacuate the region, a feat that the United Nations said is “not feasible” and “could transform what is already a tragedy into a calamitous situation”.

The situation has prompted an unprecedented number of arts and cultural leaders to take public stances on the conflict. As of today, the growing undersigned includes Artforum Editor David Velasco; visual artists Sky Hopinka, Wu Tsang, and Cecilia Vicuña; curators Candice Hopkins and Hoor Al-Qasimi; sociologist and writer Judith Butler; and actors Charles Dance and Steve Coogan. 

“There is ample evidence that we are witnessing the unfolding of a genocide in which the already precarious lives of Palestinians are deemed unworthy of aid, let alone human rights and justice,” the signatories write. 

The letter ends with a direct appeal to arts organizations and institutions “whose mission it is to protect freedom of expression, to foster education, community, and creativity, also stand for freedom of life and the basic right of existence…We call on you to refuse inhumanity, which has no place in life or art”.