Pro-Palestine activists protested at the British Museum after the museum continued to remove references to Palestine from its Middle Eastern displays under pressure from UK Lawyers For Israel in a move condemned by scholars in what they describe as a systematic attack on Palestinian identity.  The term Palestine references back to the Philistines in the 12~C. BCE.  The region of Palestine is part of the Levant, a land bridge between Africa and Eurasia.  A crossroads for religion, culture and commerce the are was among the earliest regions to see human habitation and civilisation.  The regions name evolved under various empires from the Bronze Age on and is a historically accurate term for the region.  By removing it from certain historical maps the British Museum is supporting an imperialist, racist ideology that is seeking to erase Palestinians from history.

After the last protest in February where protesters staged a protest in the museum itself I booked a ticket on the off-chance something similar may occur.  Whilst having a wander around the rotunda taking a few pics of what is an amazing space security approached me and a fellow photographer and asked us to leave.  The reason?  They believed a protest may take place inside and didn’t want any footage of photographs to be taken that could lead to adverse publicity for them.  This was astonishing, not only are they complicit in trying to erase Palestine from history they are trying to cover up the fact they are doing it.  This is deeply shameful on the part of a cultural institution that portrays itself as a guardian of history.

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