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# Brian Eno and 200+ Artists Urge British Museum to “Stop Erasing Palestine”
- URL: https://hyperallergic.com/brian-eno-and-200-artists-urge-british-museum-to-stop-erasing-palestine/
- Published: 2026-03-12T21:14:53.000Z
- Updated: 2026-03-12T21:14:53.000Z
- Description: An open letter criticizes the institution for allegedly altering displays in its Middle East galleries after complaints from a pro-Israel group.
- Author: Isa Farfan
- Tags: News, British Museum, Palestine

Over 200 artists and cultural groups are urging the British Museum to “stop erasing Palestine” after the institution [altered some wall texts in its Middle East Galleries](https://hyperallergic.com/did-the-british-museum-remove-palestine-from-its-displays/) in the wake of pressure from a pro-Israel group. 

A [letter](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSclF4QOuYyiLUOxosYSiwaODcgmUTBn0AB2yzhg5ILV4D90CA/viewform?ref=hyperallergic.com) addressed to the museum's board of trustees and signed by musician and visual artist Brian Eno, among others, also criticizes the museum's previous connections to the Israeli embassy and the oil company British Petroleum (BP), which is [accused](https://www.un.org/unispal/document/a-hrc-59-23-from-economy-of-occupation-to-economy-of-genocide-report-special-rapporteur-francesca-albanese-palestine-2025/?ref=hyperallergic.com#%5Fftn196) of profiting from Israel's crimes against humanity in Gaza. 

While the London museum has [denied](https://www.britishmuseum.org/about-us/press/press-releases/statement-on-panels?ref=hyperallergic.com) reports that it removed "Palestine" from its galleries, the group UK Lawyers for Israel publicly claimed that their advocacy led the institution to alter display texts. In one such instance, the group said, the museum replaced "Palestinian descent" with "Canaanite descent” in its Egypt galleries after the organization requested a review of terms related to Israel. 

Last summer, UK law groups [accused](https://www.theguardian.com/law/2025/aug/21/pro-israel-lawyers-investigated-over-alleged-legal-threats-to-suppress-support-for-palestine?ref=hyperallergic.com) the pro-Israel organization of "vexatious and legally baseless correspondence aimed at silencing and intimidating Palestine solidarity efforts.”

The open letter, first reported by [*Novara*](https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/11/brian-eno-tells-british-museum-to-stop-supporting-israels-genocide/?ref=hyperallergic.com), described the alleged label change as part of a "broader erasure of Palestine as a term, a place, a people and a historical reality" and accuses the museum of complicity in genocide. Artists and Culture Workers London, Jewish Artists for Palestine, and Archaeologists Against Apartheid are among the group signatories. 

In a statement to *Hyperallergic* last month, the British Museum acknowledged that “some labels and maps in the Middle East galleries have been amended to show ancient cultural regions," which the institution claimed was "more relevant for the southern Levant in the later second millennium BC\[E\].” 

After news of the display alterations broke, the Palestinian Forum in Britain posted an [image](https://www.instagram.com/p/DU8jcGqDCjo/?igsh=bHExbDNyNjhqam0%3D&ref=hyperallergic.com) showing a wall text at the museum describing the Levant region as comprised of "Jordan, Israel, Gaza, West Bank, and western Syria," but committingthe use of the term Palestine. 

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/2026/03/image-58.png)

Altered wall label at the British Museum (screenshot via [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/p/DU8jcGqDCjo/?igsh=bHExbDNyNjhqam0%3D&ref=hyperallergic.com))

“Recent events also underscore a fundamental issue,” the new open letter reads, “that Palestinians never consented to the looting and removal of their material heritage, with the Museum holding thousands of stolen Palestinian artifacts in its archives, some of which are displayed in the Museum today.”

The British Museum has not yet responded to *Hyperallergic*'srequest for comment on the open letter.

Signatories issued a list of demands, including that the museum commission an expert review of labels describing historic Palestinian artifacts and apologize for [hosting a private](https://www.museumsassociation.org/museums-journal/news/2025/07/controversy-continues-over-israeli-embassy-event-at-british-museum/?ref=hyperallergic.com) gala for the Israeli embassy last summer, which celebrated the state's founding.

"It is against this backdrop that we call on the Museum to finally end the support it has shown to the Israeli government and those profiting from its genocide in Palestine, and beginning \[sic\] the process of repairing the immense harm done to Palestinians by British colonialism," the letter concludes. 

Eno, one of the letter's most well-known signatories, is a [prominent figure](https://hyperallergic.com/filmmakers-pledge-to-boycott-israeli-cinema-institutions/) of the pro-Palestine movement. 

This month, the artist and musician also committed to selling an artwork, "Seeing Through to Sky" (2025), in an upcoming [auction](https://togetherforpalestine.indy.auction/auctions/69a165759d5349c6fe7ede53?ref=hyperallergic.com) to raise money for Palestinian humanitarian aid organizations. The works by Eno and others, including Nan Goldin and Es Devlin, will be shown in a public exhibition at Hope 93 Gallery in London later this month.