The Palestinian ambassador to the UK has formally complained to the UK Foreign Office over the "erasure" of the word Palestine from exhibits at the British Museum.
Museum officials in February removed the term from exhibits on ancient Egypt and the Phoenicians, saying the word was not “meaningful” as a historical geographical term in that context.
According to the Telegraph, the move followed a letter from the controversial pro-Israel group UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI).
In its letter to museum director Nicholas Cullinan, UKLFI argued that using the term Palestine in the exhibits “has the compounding effect of erasing the kingdoms of Israel and of Judea” and “re-framing the origins of the Israelites and Jewish people as erroneously stemming from Palestine”.
The group specifically objected to labels in displays covering 1700–1500 BC that referred to the eastern Mediterranean coast as “Palestine” and described the Hyksos people as being of “Palestinian descent”.
