Overview
- The institution confirmed label changes in ancient Middle East galleries, including revising a Hyksos panel from describing “Palestinian descent” to “Canaanite descent.”
- A spokesperson said “Canaan” is used for the southern Levant in the later second millennium BCE, with UN terminology applied to modern boundaries and “Palestinian” retained as a cultural or ethnographic identifier where relevant.
- The British Museum said the review of labels has been underway for well over a year and that updates were not a response to the UK Lawyers for Israel letter received last week.
- UK Lawyers for Israel welcomed the revisions as improving historical accuracy, while scholars and activists condemned the move as politically driven and thousands have signed a petition urging reinstatement of the term.
- Critics link the episode to broader advocacy pressure on UK institutions, citing recent UKLFI interventions at Encyclopaedia Britannica, the Open University, and other museums, as well as regulatory complaints filed by legal NGOs about the group’s tactics.