Why the British Museum’s removal of ‘Palestine’ from panels stirred up a political storm
LONDON: Palestinian officials and academic critics have accused the British Museum of historical erasure and, in the words of a widely signed open letter, “complicity in genocide” after the museum removed the words “Palestine” and “Palestinian” from explanatory panels accompanying several exhibits in its Levant and Egyptian galleries.
In February, Husam Zomlot, the Palestinian ambassador to the UK, became aware of controversial changes to several museum labels.
For example, until sometime last year, the panel introducing Gallery 57 read: “The ancient Levant comprises modern Palestine, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon and western Syria.”
The replacement panel reads: “The ancient Levant comprises modern Jordan, Israel, Gaza, West Bank, Lebanon and western Syria.”
