British Museum Replaces 'Palestine' With 'Gaza' and 'West Bank' in Ancient Levant Displays

Husam Zomlot, the Palestinian ambassador to the UK, demanded that the Foreign Office intervene after the British Museum removed references to Palestine from exhibits covering the Middle East. The changes, made in 2025, coincided with the same year Britain formally recognised the state of Palestine in September.

Zomlot has called for the word "Palestine" to be reinstated and wrote to British Museum director Nicholas Cullinan and to ministers requesting reversal of the alterations.

The museum removed "Palestine" from a panel listing present-day countries within the ancient Levant region. "Gaza" and "the West Bank" replaced "Palestine" and "Palestinian" on explanatory panels in the ancient Levant and Egyptian rooms. Among the specific changes, the word "Palestinian" was replaced with "Canaanite" in a panel about the Hyksos rulers of Egypt from roughly 1700 to 1500 BC.

References to Palestine and the Philistines were also removed from a text about the Phoenicians. " He said: "For me, this is not only a political issue. This is not even just a historical issue.

This is an existential issue. " The changes were first reported by The Telegraph in February. Zomlot was invited to meet Nicholas Cullinan and curators in March. He left the meeting without any commitment that the changes would be reversed and was offered a tour of the museum which he declined.

In a subsequent letter to Nicholas Cullinan, Zomlot said it would not have been appropriate to engage further in a way that could be interpreted as endorsing the museum's current presentation. He said he remained willing to continue discussions once the changes had been addressed. Zomlot was still awaiting a response from the Foreign Office.

The British Museum insisted it has not removed the term "Palestine" from its displays entirely. It said the word "Palestine" continues to appear across galleries and on its website. " UK Lawyers for Israel sent a letter to the British Museum arguing that applying the name "Palestine" retrospectively created a false impression of historical continuity and risked obscuring the origins of Jewish people.

The museum made the alterations following audience research and after receiving that letter. " Marchella Ward, a lecturer in classical studies at the Open University, said the decision had nothing to do with historical accuracy. Josephine Quinn, professor of ancient history at Cambridge University, said the more troubling issue was the suggestion ancient place names had any direct relevance to contemporary politics.

The British Museum is publicly funded but governed by an independent board of trustees chaired by former Conservative chancellor George Osborne. GB News reported that a Government spokesman confirmed museums and galleries in the UK operate independently, with decisions about collections a matter for their trustees rather than ministers.