Pro-Palestinian demonstrators defaced a statue of the late Jewish singer Amy Winehouse over the weekend by concealing her Star of David pendant with a Palestinian flag, The Daily Mail reported on Monday.
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The iconic statue of the singer is located in London's Camden Market, where she lived in the last years of her life, and shows her wearing a necklace with a Star of David pendant. Protesters covered the pendant with a sticker featuring the Palestinian flag, sparking outrage on social media networks.
Journalist Etan Smallman posted on the X platform a photo of the defaced statue and wrote: "London 2024. Where a Star of David can't be displayed (even on a statue of a dead singer) without being covered by a Palestinian flag." Another X user wrote that "The Amy Winehouse statue has stood undisturbed and respected for years. It has her Star of David necklace out and proud. Until today when a pro-Palestinian defaced her Jewishness with a sticker. This is GROSS antisemitism." Other users described the act as "revolting."
A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism confirmed the sticker had been removed, and said: "Covering the Star of David, a well-known symbol of Judaism, on the statue of a British Jewish singer, with a sticker of the Palestinian Authority flag is antisemitic."
"So much for the 'this is just criticism of Israel' excuse we hear so often from antisemites who are too cowardly or ignorant to admit what they are," he added. "Right now, 69% of British Jews say that they are less likely to show visible signs of their Judaism. When even a statue of a Jewish person can't get away with it, is that any surprise?"
A spokesperson for Camden Market stated that the sticker was immediately removed and that the incident was reported to the police. "We were made aware on Monday, February 19 that a member of the public had placed a sticker over the Star of David necklace on the Amy Winehouse statue in the North Yard of Camden Market," their spokesperson stated.
"This was removed immediately and the incident was reported to the police. Camden Market remains first and foremost a place of diversity – a global destination that welcomes everyone. Any form of discrimination on our estate will not be tolerated," he added.
During the demonstration that took place on Saturday, police arrested 12 individuals on suspicion of various offenses, including inciting racial hatred, suspicion of support for a proscribed organization in relation to a placard, and assaulting emergency workers.
The bronze statue was made in 2014, three years after Winehouse's death at the age of 27. The singer, whose album "Back to Black" gained worldwide acclaim and remains one of the best-selling British albums to date, died of alcohol poisoning. A new film based on her life story is expected to be released in April.