British Museum Revises Displays by Removing 'Palestine' Label
The British Museum has undertaken a significant revision of its ancient Middle East galleries, specifically removing the word "Palestine" from various maps and information panels. This decision follows concerns raised about the historical accuracy and neutrality of the term in the context of ancient history.
Concerns Raised by Legal Group
UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI), a voluntary organisation of solicitors, recently communicated with the museum's director, Nicholas Cullinan. In their correspondence, the group argued that references to "Palestine" in displays covering the ancient Levant and Egypt risked "obscuring the history of Israel and the Jewish people."
The group elaborated in a letter, stating: "Applying a single name – Palestine – retrospectively to the entire region, across thousands of years, erases historical changes and creates a false impression of continuity. It also has the compounding effect of erasing the Kingdoms of Israel and of Judea, which emerged from around 1000BC, and of reframing the origins of the Israelites and Jewish people as erroneously stemming from Palestine."
Museum's Response and Rationale
A spokesperson for the British Museum clarified that these changes were implemented last year, based on feedback and audience research. The museum acknowledged that while "Palestine" has been a well-established geographical and neutral designation in western and Middle Eastern scholarship since the late 19th century, it no longer holds a neutral connotation and may be interpreted in reference to political territory.
The spokesperson further explained: "For the Middle East galleries, for maps showing ancient cultural regions, the term 'Canaan' is relevant for the southern Levant in the later second millennium BC. We use the UN terminology on maps that show modern boundaries, for example Gaza, West Bank, Israel, Jordan, and refer to 'Palestinian' as a cultural or ethnographic identifier where appropriate."
Specific Changes Implemented
According to UKLFI, several displays have already been updated. In the Levant gallery, which covers the period 2000-300BCE, information panels now describe the history of Canaan and the Canaanites, as well as the rise of the kingdoms of Judah and Israel. Additionally, a panel in the Egypt galleries was amended to replace "Palestinian descent" with "Canaanite descent."
Public Reaction and Future Plans
More than 5,000 individuals have signed a Change.org petition urging the museum to reverse its decision. The petition contends that the move is "not supported by historical evidence and contributes to a wider pattern of erasing Palestinian presence from public memory."
Further revisions are anticipated as part of the museum's long-term reconstruction and redisplay programme, with implementation expected over the coming years. This ongoing process reflects the institution's commitment to evolving its presentations in response to scholarly and public input.
