A masked activist smashed a wax statue of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Museo de Cera in Mexico City. The activist first placed a Palestinian flag on the ground, poured red paint over the statue and then hammered its nose and face.
Next, he threw it to the ground and walked away, shouting, “Long Live Palestine, Long Live Sudan, Long Live Yemen, Long Live Puerto Rico.” Wax depictions of the British royal family were also visible in the videos shared online.
The Museo de Cera, established in 1979, houses over 260 wax sculptures, including figures from politics, sports, and entertainment.
The vandalised statue was seen lying on the ground, face down, in images shared by the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement in Mexico.
BDS Mexico distanced itself from the individual, saying, “We don't know who did it,” but questioned the museum's decision to display a statue of Netanyahu, calling him a “genocidal maniac.”
The act drew strong criticism from Israel's embassy in Mexico. “The attack carried out on the statue of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is an odious act which sends a dangerous message of violence, intolerance and hate that goes beyond all legitimate criticism,” it said in a statement, as per the Times Of Israel. The embassy also defended Israel's actions in Gaza as a “just struggle against a terrorist organisation whose cruel actions cost the lives of numerous civilians, including Mexican citizens.”
They also urged Mexican cultural institutions to take steps to prevent similar acts of vandalism in the future.
Benjamin Netanyahu has faced international criticism over allegations of war crimes in Gaza, with the International Criminal Court issuing an arrest warrant against him.
Israel's war on Gaza has entered its 16th month, leaving the narrow strip in ruins and much of the population internally displaced and facing a shortage of food. Even camps meant to shelter those already wounded and displaced have not been spared. Netanyahu's war, which came in retaliation to Hamas' October 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel has so far led to over 46,000 deaths, a vast majority of them women and children, according to Gaza's health ministry.
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