Over 200 cultural figures, including musician Brian Eno and writer Laleh Khalili, have signed an open letter condemning the British Museum for allegedly removing the word "Palestine" from labels in its Ancient Levant gallery. The letter, published in March, accuses the museum of historical revisionism and links the action to pressure from the advocacy group UK Lawyers for Israel, while also criticizing the museum's broader ties to Israel.
The museum denies the allegations, stating it continues to use "Palestine" across its galleries and that label changes were part of a routine scholarly update initiated before receiving the UKLFI letter. However, the controversy highlights intense ongoing debates over cultural representation, political pressure on institutions, and the museum's role in narrating contested histories, particularly amid the Israel-Hamas war. Scholars are scrutinizing the new terminology, which replaces "Palestine" with geographic descriptors like "Syro-Lebanese coast."