[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.artnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/BritishMuseum.jpg?w=1024″]<\/p>\n
\n\tSeveral political parties across the UK Parliament have called for an independent investigation into the British Museum\u2018s removal of the terms \u201cPalestine,\u201d \u201cPalestinian,\u201d and \u201cIsraelite occupation\u201d after a Middle East Eye <\/em>report linked the museum\u2019s decision to lobbying by pro-Israel activists.<\/p>\n \n\tThe British Museum defended its decision to alter some displays in February, saying that \u201caudience testing\u201d showed the term \u201cPalestine\u201d to be \u201cno longer meaningful\u201d\u2014a claim challenged earlier this month by disclosures made to Middle East Eye<\/em> (MEE), <\/em>which found that no such audience testing or visitor research relating to the term \u201cPalestine\u201d had been conducted.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tRather, an analysis of redacted internal emails turned over by the museum in response to a Freedom of Information request suggested that changes to historical displays, including those covering periods more than 2,000 years old, came shortly after private and public complaints from pro-Israel organizations and high-profile individuals between October and December 2024.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tThe timeline established between Israeli lobbying of the museum and the removal of references to Palestine appeared to contradict statements by director Nicholas Cullinan, who later defended the decision, saying it was made after curators had \u201cthought long and hard.\u201d In one reported case, the museum initiated a display change\u2014apparently to address a private complaint from the Board of Deputies, a pro-Israel Jewish community group\u2014less than five hours after the complaint was circulated internally.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tOne complaint from the Board of Deputies reportedly argued that the term \u201cIsraelite occupation\u201d in the context of the Phoenicians, a Levantine people who lived more than 2,000 years ago, could \u201cjustify attacks against Jews\u201d in the present.<\/p>\n \n\tSpeaking to MEE, Your Party MP Jeremy Corbyn described the museum\u2019s actions as \u201canti-Palestinian racism.\u201d He added: \u201cThis assault on academic freedom represents an attempt to wipe Palestinians from history\u2026 which can only embolden Israel\u2019s ongoing illegal occupation.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tGreen Party MP Sian Berry warned that \u201csuccumbing to pressure in this way, if this is what has happened, hugely discredits the museum\u2019s leadership and undermines its work,\u201d and called for an urgent independent investigation \u201cto determine if political interference has occurred.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThe British Museum has not responded to requests for comment from ARTnews<\/em> regarding the investigation\u2019s findings or allegations of political interference from Israeli lobbyists.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tIn February, the museum released a press statement refuting reports that it had removed the term \u201cPalestine\u201d from its displays, saying: \u201cIt is simply not true. We continue to use Palestine across a series of galleries, both contemporary and historic.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tRichard Burgon, Labour MP for Leeds East, joined Berry\u2019s call for an independent inquiry, telling MEE<\/em>: \u201cThe British Museum must urgently answer serious questions about its unacceptable removal of references to Palestine.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tHusam Zomlot, the Palestinian ambassador to the UK, has also protested the removal of the term \u201cPalestine\u201d from British Museum displays, saying: \u201cBy removing references to Palestinian history, the British Museum is betraying its commitment to history and allowing itself to be used for political purposes.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tZomlot added that efforts would continue to press the British Museum and the British government to restore the references. \u201cWe will continue to work and communicate with all relevant bodies to make this message loud and clear, until the original labels are restored,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \n\tThe British Museum, one of the UK\u2019s most visited cultural institutions, attracts millions of visitors annually, but Cullinan\u2019s tenure since taking over as director in 2024 has also been marked by a series of public controversies and internal tension.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tIn May 2025, the museum faced backlash from its own staff for hosting an event with the Board of Deputies, an organization representing British Jews, with the Israeli embassy to mark Israel\u2019s Independence Day. The event was attended by Israel\u2019s then-ambassador to the UK, Tzipi Hotovely, who has publicly called for the destruction of Gaza. It also drew a pro-Palestinian protest outside the museum, where demonstrators unfurled a banner reading \u201cColonial genocide\u201d.<\/p>\n \n\tThis May, the museum was also forced to postpone a lecture titled \u201cAncient Israel and Judah in the British Museum,\u201d citing concerns that the event could be disrupted by a planned demonstration. The lecture was rescheduled for the following month, with Cullinan telling the Jewish Chronicle<\/em> that the institution would not \u201cgive in to intimidation.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n [analyse_source url=”https:\/\/www.artnews.com\/art-news\/news\/uk-politicians-call-for-investigation-of-british-museums-removal-of-palestine-from-display-1234792435\/”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.artnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/BritishMuseum.jpg?w=1024″] Several political parties across the UK Parliament have called for an independent investigation into the British Museum\u2018s removal of the terms \u201cPalestine,\u201d \u201cPalestinian,\u201d and \u201cIsraelite occupation\u201d after a Middle East Eye report linked the museum\u2019s decision to lobbying by pro-Israel activists. The British Museum defended its decision to alter some displays in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,226],"class_list":["post-2049595","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-artnews-com","tag-crawlmanager"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2049595","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2049595"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2049595\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2049595"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2049595"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2049595"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}