Banksy Artwork at Royal Courts of Justice Quickly Concealed After Mysterious Overnight Appearance

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An overnight appearance of a new Banksy mural on the Royal Courts of Justice in London was quickly concealed by security personnel.

The piece is thought to address the detention of numerous activists linked to the outlawed group Palestine Action.

On Monday, Banksy posted photos of the mural on Instagram, captioning them with: Royal Courts of Justice London.

By midday, guards had covered the mural and put up barriers around it, also installing CCTV cameras to monitor the area.

The mural depicts a judge using a gavel to beat a protester, who is holding a blood-splattered placard while being knocked to the ground.

Two security guards standing in front of two metal shed walls which have been placed in front of a stone wall

Hours later, the mural was covered with two metal barriers, with security officials standing watch. Source: AP / Joanna Chan

The Royal Courts of Justice, which houses the High Court, is a Grade One listed building, meaning it has the highest level of historical protection in England.

Because the building is 143 years old, the mural will be removed with consideration for its historical significance, according to the HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS).

“The Royal Courts of Justice is a listed building and HMCTS are obliged to maintain its original character,” HMCTS said in a statement.

This mural is Banksy’s first since he created a lighthouse image on a wall in Marseille, France, in May, adding the stenciled phrase: I want to be what you saw in me.

Supporters say latest artwork depicts ‘brutality’ of government ban

While Banksy never comments on his artwork, the London artwork has been interpreted as a statement on the arrests of demonstrators opposing Palestine Action’s proscription as a terrorist group.

The UK government banned the group in July, after some members broke into a Royal Air Force base and damaged military planes.

Involvement with the organization now entails punishments of up to 14 years imprisonment, categorizing it with groups like al-Qaeda and the so-called Islamic State.

Defend Our Juries, which organised Saturday’s protest, said Banksy’s mural “powerfully depicts the brutality unleashed” by the government ban.

Police said hundreds of Palestine Action supporters have been detained in recent weeks under anti-terrorism legislation, including more than 500 in one day last month. Many of those arrested were over 60.

London’s Metropolitan Police said people had been detained for a number of offences, including assaulting police officers and supporting a proscribed organisation.

Human rights groups have criticised the ban as disproportionate, arguing it limits freedom of expression and the right to peaceful protest.

A long concrete barrier. There is artwork on it including four white hands in a row making shapes, and a silhouette of a girl holding up balloons which are lifting her up.

Banksy has a well-documented record of pro-Palestinian art, having painted several significant murals on the West Bank barrier in 2005, one of which features the iconic Flying Balloon Girl. Source: Getty / Frédéric Soltan/Corbis

Banksy has previously expressed concern about conditions in Gaza. In 2015 when announcing more street art there, he described it as “the world’s largest open-air prison”, with Israel having largely controlled entry and exit from the Palestinian enclave for years.

In August 2005, Banksy painted several large murals on the controversial Israel-built separation barrier, which runs around most of the occupied West Bank, including an image of two boys making sandcastles beneath a painted gap showing a tropical beach, and a girl lifted over the wall by balloons.

In 2007, a Banksy stencil of a rat with a slingshot — later dubbed Slingshot Rat — appeared on the wall before being cut out by unknown people and eventually resurfacing in a Tel Aviv gallery in 2022.

Banksy opened the Walled Off Hotel in Bethlehem in 2017, marketed as having the “worst view of any hotel in the world”, overlooking the barrier. It closed in October 2023, citing “major developments in the region” after the Hamas-Israel war erupted on 7 October 2023.

— With additional reporting by the Reuters news agency.