In February 2026, it emerged that the British Museum had removed the word 'Palestine' from labels across its ancient Middle East displays. In the Levant gallery, panels covering the period 2000–300 BC now read 'Canaan' instead of 'Palestine'. In the Egypt galleries, the Hyksos people — previously described as being of Palestinian descent — are now labelled as of 'Canaanite descent'.
These changes followed a letter from UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) to Museum Director Nicholas Cullinan. Although the Museum claims the changes were not made in response to this letter, the alterations correspond precisely to UKLFI's demands. UKLFI has a documented pattern of pressuring public institutions — the European Legal Support Centre has identified UKLFI as a direct or enabling actor in 128 of 900 documented anti-Palestinian repression incidents in the UK.
The term 'Palestine' is historically accurate. Herodotus used 'Palaistinē' in the 5th century BC. Egyptian records reference the Peleset people from the 12th century BC. The Romans formalised it as 'Syria Palaestina'. The Museum's own statement admitted the term was "well established in western and Middle Eastern scholarship as a geographical and neutral designation."