The masked protesters painted “Death to Israel” and “Death to apartheid” on the embassy wall and used spray paint cans to smash surveillance cameras.
By Andrew Bernard, The Algemeiner
Protesters in Mexico City destroyed surveillance cameras and painted graffiti at the Israeli embassy on Wednesday during a demonstration demanding the extradition of Tomás Zerón, the former head of the Mexican Criminal Investigation Agency (AIC), who has been charged by the Mexican authorities with torture, forced disappearance, and obstruction of justice.
Zerón fled Mexico in 2019 and has been based in Israel ever since, where he has sought asylum.
The protest was organized by the relatives of 43 forcibly disappeared students of the Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers College in Iguala, Mexico. Zerón investigated the incident as head of the AIC, but resigned amid accusations that the investigation was mishandled, including the torture of suspects.
Alongside messages calling for Zerón’s extradition, the masked protesters also painted “Death to Israel and “Death to apartheid” on the embassy wall. They used spray paint cans to smash surveillance cameras outside the embassy.
Other messages spray painted on the building included a hammer and sickle, “Death to Zionism”, “Free Palestine”, “Viva Palestine”, “We will win”, a Star of David with a red cancelled sign, and numerous messages related to the missing students.
After the protest, the demonstrators departed on busses and were not impeded by the authorities.
In a statement, Israeli Ambassador to Mexico Zvi Tal said, “It is clear to us that the violence on display during the demonstration, where they left offensive graffiti on the walls of our building — here is written ‘death to Israel’ — has no relation whatsoever to the Ayotzinapa case.”
In a tweet, Vivian Aisen, the Director of the Central America Department at the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said, “What happened at the Embassy of Israel in Mexico is unfortunate. That has nothing to do with the case of #Ayotzinapa8Anos, it has to do with explicit hatred of the State of Israel.”
In response to the protest and the damage to the embassy, Israel’s Foreign Ministry summoned Mexico’s ambassador in Tel Aviv on Thursday.