Palestinian Ambassador Seeks UK Government Intervention Over British Museum’s Removal of “Palestine” Labels

In 2025 the British Museum removed the name “Palestine” from a Levant map, replaced it with “Gaza” and “West Bank,” swapped “Palestinian” for “Canaanite” on a Hyksos panel, and omitted “Palestine” and “Philistines” from a Phoenician text. Photographs of the revised displays have been published. The changes followed the UK’s September 2025 recognition of Palestine and an Israeli Gaza campaign described by UN experts as genocidal. After a meeting with director Nicholas Cullinan on 24 March 2026, Husam Zomlot, the Palestinian ambassador to the UK, wrote to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office demanding restoration; he filed a formal complaint in May 2026.

Palestinian ambassador says British Museum 'erasing' state by taking its name off labelsThe GuardianMiddle East EyeThe New ArabMiddle East Eye

The British Museum says it has not removed “Palestine” and still uses the term in several galleries and online, adding that audience testing suggested the historic label is no longer meaningful in some contexts. A government spokesperson reiterated museum independence. UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) argued that applying “Palestine” to ancient periods retroactively imposes a modern entity and obscures Israel’s history.

The New Arab

Open University lecturer Marchella Ward and Cambridge professor Josephine Quinn note that “Palestine” appears in ancient sources and that its removal does not improve accuracy. Energy Embargo for Palestine called the museum’s actions hypocritical, accusing it of erasing Palestinian identity while claiming to protect artefacts. FOI data show staff cited audience emails and social-media posts to justify the changes.

Middle East Eye

Photographs confirm the label removals, contradicting the museum’s claim of unchanged usage. The changes pre-date UKLFI’s letter, challenging the group’s assertion that its complaint prompted them.

The New Arab

The case tests UK policy on Palestine, museum independence and decolonisation debates, potentially shaping future public narratives.

Middle East Eye

• “For me, this is not only a political issue. This is not only a legal issue. This is not even just a historical issue. This is an existential issue. Because erasing our past is erasing our present.” — Husam Zomlot, Palestinian Ambassador to the UK

The Guardian

• “several maps and descriptions retroactively apply the term ‘Palestine’ to periods in which no such entity existed and risk obscuring the history of Israel and the Jewish people” — UK Lawyers for Israel, letter to the museum

The Guardian

• “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,” — British Museum spokesperson

Middle East Eye

• “The decision to remove Palestine has nothing to do with historical accuracy,” — Marchella Ward, lecturer, Open University

The Guardian

Zomlot awaits an FCDO response; the museum has not signalled a reversal, while media scrutiny continues.

The New Arab