Exclusive: How British Museum made false claims about its removal of ‘Palestine’ from displays

Exclusive: How British Museum made false claims about its removal of ‘Palestine’ from displays Submitted by Namir Shabibi on Wed, 07/01/2026 - 10:13 Internal emails reveal changes resulted directly from complaints by pro-Israel activists, with the museum and its director subsequently misleading prominent critics The British Museum removed the terms “ Palestine ”, “Palestinian” and “Israelite occupation” from its displays in direct response to months of lobbying in 2024, a Middle East Eye investigation has found. In February 2026, the museum defended its decision to alter some displays, saying that “audience testing” showed the term “Palestine” to be “no longer meaningful”. However, a new disclosure by the museum to MEE, in response to a freedom of information request, confirms that no such testing was carried out, nor any visitor research related to the term “Palestine”.