British Museum's move to erase Palestine from exhibit labels is shameful
The British Museum is plunged into an unwelcome controversy, not for the first time, over issues relating to Israel and Palestine.
Given the on-going rising death toll of Israel's genocide in Gaza, despite a nominal ceasefire; the settler movement violently encroaching further into the Occupied West Bank daily; and the British government’s open hostility to the national outrage expressed at these grave developments, a fire storm has hit the British Museum.
It is remarkable that a cultural jewel of the nation could feel so out of step with our post-colonial reality.
Earlier this month, the activist group UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) said in a letter of complaint that the British Museum’s use of the name "Palestine" in displays was "historically inaccurate", and called for a comprehensive review.
The organisation is well known for other cultural interventions.
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In February 2023 they were successful in getting a display of decorated plates made by children in UN schools in Gaza taken down from Chelsea and Westminster hospital.
The Festival of Plates was a project called "Crossing Borders", organised by Chelsea Community Hospital School, which is run for children with long term hospital stays.
Two years before that, UKLFI got a statement about Palestine taken off an exhibition in Manchester by Forensic Architecture.
In this case, the group specifically objected to labels in displays covering the period of 1700-1500 BC, which referred to the eastern Mediterranean coast as "Palestine" and the Hyksos people as of "Palestinian descent".
Those labels have now been changed to read "Canaan" and "Canaanite descent", although a British Museum spokesperson denied that the move came in response to the UKLFI complaint.
Similar excisions of Palestine have also been made in the highly popular Egyptian sculpture gallery. The museum said some changes were made last year after feedback and audience research, according to a Guardian report.
And a statement from the museum said: "It has been reported that the British Museum has removed the term Palestine from displays. It is simply untrue. We continue to use Palestine across a series of galleries, both contemporary and historic."
However, a museum spokesperson had told MEE over the weekend that "while the term 'Palestine' has been well established in scholarship for around 150 years, the museum has changed the terminology as it is no longer politically neutral".
Thousands of people have since signed a petition calling for a reversal of this policy shift, which follows massive controversy over a recent pro-Israel event at the museum.
Celebrating Israel
Last year, as the genocide in Gaza deepened, the British Museum hosted an event to commemorate “Israeli independence day” on the eve of the anniversary of the Nakba. It was reportedly attended by the British defence procurement minister, Maria Eagle, along with Israeli ambassador Tzipi Hotovely, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, and opposition leader Kemi Badenoch.
It is remarkable that a cultural jewel of the nation could be so out of step with our post-colonial reality
The Great Court was bathed in blue lighting, Israeli flags were hoisted, and the street outside was lined with police cars. Museum administrators reportedly told staff to leave early that day ahead of a “large corporate event” - but after word of the details leaked, pro-Palestine protesters arrived outside the gates.
Museum staff who opposed the event later called unsuccessfully for a public apology.
The British Museum is chaired by George Osborne, who served as chancellor of the Exchequer under the Conservative government of David Cameron from 2010-16.
The board Osborne now chairs is composed of up to 25 members, variously appointed by the king, the prime minister, the other trustees, and the culture secretary on the advice of the Royal Academy, the British Academy, the Society of Antiquaries of London and the Royal Society.
Popular outrage
One earlier more ambitious UKLFI campaign reaching beyond cultural targets and into open politics was challenged in the British courts.
Six years ago, UKLFI was forced to retract disgraceful allegations it made a couple of years prior about Defense for Children International-Palestine (DCIP), linking the vital human rights group to terrorism. The very future of the organisation was put at risk by this misinformation.
The retraction came after DCIP launched a legal challenge led by prominent solicitors, Bindmans, against UKLFI’s allegations. DCIP’s work was seriously disrupted and the organisation suffered severe financial blowback from the "terrorism" claims, including when two banks withdrew services used to facilitate donations.
In a statement posted to its website in March 2020, UKLFI noted: “We would like to clarify that we did not intend to suggest that the organisation has close current links, or provides any financial or material support to any terrorist organisation.”
DCIP, which advocates for thousands of Palestinian children jailed, tortured and disappeared by Israel, remains a target for Tel Aviv. In July 2021, its offices in Ramallah were raided by the Israeli army, with files and computers seized.
Several months later, on 21 October 2021, Israel designated DCIP and five other Palestinian rights groups - Al-Haq, Addameer, the Bisan Center for Research and Development, the Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees, and the Union of Agricultural Work Committees - as “terrorist organisations”. These groups form the spine of Palestinian civil society, despite every attempt by the Israeli government and military to break them.
Nine European countries, including Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden, subsequently issued a joint statement saying there was no evidence to support the "terrorist" designation, and vowing to continue working with the six groups. Shamefully, these countries were not joined by the UK.
Today, the UK public is far ahead of its government on a moral issue that can’t be avoided. The recent court ruling against the state’s Palestine Action ban showed how the tide is turning. Popular, peaceful street protests reveal the depth of people’s outrage over our country’s complicity in genocide.
Any readjustments of labelling made to history involving Palestine at the British Museum will create another target. The letter from UKLFI, as a small and tenacious pro-Israel lobby group, has left the museum in a very hot seat.
The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Eye.
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