The Israeli lobby group claimed that the London institution had changed several displays following its complaints
The British Museum in London has denied removing the word ‘Palestine’ from several information panels and maps in its ancient Middle East galleries under pressure from the pro-Israel lobbying group UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI).
In a statement on Saturday, UKLFI claimed that a spokesperson for the museum confirmed it was reviewing and updating panels “on a case-by-case basis,” and had already replaced references to ‘Palestinian descent’ with ‘Canaanite descent’ in the Egypt galleries. Information panels in the Levant gallery covering 2000-300 BC had supposedly also been rewritten to focus on “the rise of the kingdoms of Judah and Israel.”
The UKLFI said the changes came after it sent a complaint to museum director Nicholas Cullinan earlier this month, in which the group raised “serious concerns” regarding the anachronistic use of the term ‘Palestine’ in some displays. It argued that applying the name ‘Palestine’ across thousands of years “erases the emergence and existence of Jewish kingdoms and Jewish national identity in the region,” and “creates a false impression of historical continuity.”
The group, which has a history of targeting pro-Palestinian activists through legal intimidation, and is currently under investigation for filing “vexatious and baseless” legal threats, also warned that the terminology could be considered a violation of the Equality Act, as it risks creating “a hostile or offensive environment” for Jewish and Israeli visitors.
The story was widely reported by British media and sparked backlash from some scholars.
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