An Israel-Gaza peace mural that was defaced two weeks after its unveiling in east London has been painted over by Transport for London (TfL).
The mural appeared on a TfL-owned building on Old Street, Shoreditch in February and was created by the charity, Circle of Toys.
It featured two girls – one in a headscarf waving an Israeli flag and another waving the flag of Palestine.
TfL says it painted it black “as not to encourage any antisocial behaviour”.
Arthur Corvin Powells, founder of Circle of Toys told the BBC that the idea behind the mural was to bring attention “to those suffering from war and moving it away from the politics that dominates the news agenda”.
He also said plans to replace the mural were under way.
Any future mural would be more reflective of all global conflicts, not just Israel-Gaza, he added.
TfL has acknowledged the charity’s aims and said the mural was painted without their permission.
It was removed “in a considerate way so as not to encourage any antisocial behaviour”, TfL added.
It has also urged Circle of Toys to seek an alternative location for any future displays to avoid them being painted over again.
Circle of Toys was set up following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine with the goal of sending toys to children caught up in the conflict.
It recently established a base in the Middle East with the aim of encouraging people to donate toys to children in Israel and the Palestinian territories.
While the graffitied mural drew attention to their cause, it also received considerable backlash.
One media outlet, Mint Press, called the display “bizarre” and labelled it a “normalisation mural”.
Sprayed onto the mural were the words: ‘Palestinian children killed since 07.09.23 11,500’ and ‘Funded by your taxes. Murder is murder’.
The spray paint refers to 7 September 2023, which is likely to mean 7 October 2023 when Hamas attacked Israel, starting the war.
Israel says more than 1,200 civilians were killed in the attack and more than 250 people taken hostage – of whom 130 are estimated to still be held by Hamas.
In response, Israel conducted significant retaliatory attacks on Gaza.
The Hamas-run health ministry has estimated more than 30,000 people have been killed in the strikes.
Israel has also forcefully displaced more than 85% of Gaza’s population, causing a humanitarian crisis in the region.
Tensions have spilled over to London, with the Metropolitan Police reporting that hate crimes against both Muslim and Jewish communities have increased substantially in the aftermath of the 7 October attack.
