Why Did the British Museum Remove References to Palestine? by Lydia Wilson

The suspicion that the museum’s expertise is not in fact acting as the decider in this case, but that it is instead bowing to external pressures, has been strengthened by the timing of the label changes as well as the inability to provide explanations. “The erasure of Palestine at the British Museum needs to be understood in the context of Israel’s deliberate erasure of Palestinian history and historical sites, which is a part of genocide,” Ward said. “When a museum removes the most commonly used name during a project of deliberate historicide, that obviously isn’t a question of ‘historical accuracy,’ especially when they don’t apply that same logic to other ancient people.” Quinn echoed this unease. “The worrying thing for me is the idea that it matters, that it has any relevance to politics today, or that it can justify or excuse the contemporary story, which is one of genocide,” she told me.