British Museum justification for Israel embassy event under scrutiny after FOI response
Revelations from a Freedom of Information (FOI) request have raised questions around the British Museum’s claim that it had no say in a decision to host an event for the Israeli embassy, as it “cannot undermine” UK foreign policy.
On 13 May, the museum hosted an event organised by the Israeli embassy celebrating the anniversary of Israel's 77th Independence Day.
Amid mounting anger from staff, who previously told Middle East Eye that they had been kept in the dark about the event, the museum issued statements insisting that, as an arms-length body, it cannot “deviate from or undermine the UK government's foreign policy”.
But a response to an FOI request asking for documentation evidencing this requirement reveals that the museum does not hold any legal advice or policy documents to support the claim, indicating that it did have a choice about whether or not to host the event.
The response states that: “As a Public Body, all money spent by the Museum is classified as public money and some of this money is provided by the Government.
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“In this context it is the responsibility of the Board and the Executive, to which the Board delegates responsibility for running the Museum, to judge how the Museum must fulfil its duty to the public”.
“This duty is not prescribed but the Trustees and the Executive are helped by guidance such as the Cabinet Office Code of Conduct for Board Members of Public Bodies”, it stated.
The response suggests that the museum was not obliged, or otherwise forced, to hold the Israel embassy event but rather it was a choice made by its management.
A British Museum staff member described the revelations as “very, very embarrassing”.
“This proves once again that they’ve been lying to British Museum employees,” the staff member told MEE.
“The museum has to give us an explanation, but also take a clear stand now because this means we don’t have to follow the UK government,” they said.
“We can at least take some steps such as refusing to lend objects to Israel or have any cultural interaction with them”.
They added that some members of staff are contemplating leaving as a result of management’s handling of the event.
“We’re all quite disgusted. I think that’s the only way to put it. And we’re wondering what to expect next - is there something worse?” the staff member said.
'Actively deceived'
A spokesperson for the campaign group Energy Embargo for Palestine (EEFP) said that the revelations prove that the museum “actively deceived” both its staff and the public, and “purposefully lied about why it chose to host the event”.
“The insight obtained by MEE demonstrates that the museum was not forced to host the event, but that it chose to, and that the interests of the museum directorate are aligned with those celebrating and profiting from genocide - whether it’s the Zionist consulate in Britain or BP, which it has a £50m sponsorship deal with,” the spokesperson added.
'We're all quite disgusted'
- Member of staff at the British Museum
MEE previously revealed that, as of 16 April, the museum had corresponded with the museum’s sponsoring department, the Department for Culture, Media and Sports (DCMS).
In response to a request for comment by MEE, the British Museum said: “Fundamentally, this was a commercial event – and as such is different to activities or events the Museum generates or hosts itself.”
According to the ex-civil servant who made the FOI request, it is irregular for a non-departmental government body to engage with its sponsoring department concerning private events or anything at the level of day-to-day operational detail.
Meanwhile, a separate FOI request to the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology revealed an email from Israeli ambassador Tzipi Hotovely requesting the department’s secretary of state, Peter Kyle, attend the event as the “UK government’s representative” delivering the evening’s “keynote speech”.
In her email, Hotovely’s framing of the event suggests it was not a corporate function but a joint effort by the UK and Israeli governments “to highlight the strong bilateral links” and to endorse “the existence, safety and security of the State of Israel”.
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