Pro-Israel group pressures British Museum over Palestine labels

A group of lawyers that advocate for Israel has pressured the British Museum to alter its gallery panels and labels that reference Palestine in displays covering the ancient Levant and Egypt.

U.K. Lawyers for Israel said in a statement that it recently sent a letter to the museum in which it contested the use of “Palestine” on maps and descriptions.

The museum spokesperson told Art News that the changes were made last year before receiving the group’s letter. It remains unclear how many changes the British Museum has made to its wall texts.

The discrepancy highlights uncertainty about whether the edits were part of routine updates or connected to outside lobbying.

In its letter, U.K. Lawyers for Israel said that “no such entity” called Palestine existed and that the use of the word risks “obscuring the history of Israel and the Jewish people.” The modern state of Israel was established in 1948.

U.K. Lawyers for Israel argued that describing the region as Palestine in historical contexts “erases historical changes and creates a false impression of continuity.”

“UKLFI requested that the Museum review its collections and revise terminology so regions are referred to by historically accurate names such as Canaan, the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah, or Judea, depending on the period being described,” the group said.

The group also objected to the display of dolls wearing “Palestinian traditional dress” in the ancient Levant gallery, arguing that “their placement could imply an uninterrupted cultural lineage.”

A spokesperson for the British Museum has addressed U.K. Lawyers for Israel’s concerns, according to the group.

U.K. Lawyers for Israel said that the British Museum confirmed that it is reviewing and updating some gallery panels and labels on a case-by-case basis.

“Audience testing has shown that the historic use of the term Palestine … is in some circumstances no longer meaningful,” the spokesperson reportedly said.

U.K. Lawyers for Israel said information panels in the museum’s ancient Levant gallery have already been updated “to describe in some detail the history of Canaan and the Canaanites and the rise of the kingdoms of Judah and Israel using those names. A revised text devoted to the Phoenicians was installed in early 2025.”

And a panel in the Egypt galleries was recently amended to replace “Palestinian descent” with “Canaanite descent,” the group said, citing the museum.

But supporters of modern Palestinians have criticized the change, saying that alterations, in turn, erase their history and heritage.

Michella Ward, a lecturer on classical studies at The Open University, wrote in an op-ed Sunday that “Israel is trying to rewrite ancient history.”

“In Palestine, Israel has systematically destroyed ancient heritage and made colonial land grabs of archaeological sites like the ancient Palestinian town of Sebastia, near Nablus,” Ward wrote. “Beyond Palestine, global institutions – including museums and universities – are at risk of aiding and abetting them in this rewriting project.”

Ward noted that the term “ancient Palestine” is the most accurate term for the region in antiquity.

“It was used in the 5th century BCE by the ancient Greek historian Herodotus, and remains widely used in academic research,” she wrote.

And the advocacy group Energy Embargo for Palestine noted that Israeli forces have destroyed ancient Palestinian historical sites in Gaza and the West Bank.

“This is how the British Museum treats Palestinians,” the group said. “We call for this shameful decision to be immediately reversed.”

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