British Museum postpones Jewish culture month lecture over protest fears | British Museum
The British Museum has postponed a conference for Jewish culture month over concerns the event would be disrupted by protesters.
The museum announced that the talk on ancient Israel and Judah, planned to be held on Thursday, will be held at a later date that has not yet been decided.
The speech in the museum’s BP conference hall was given by Dr. responsible for the Middle East department. It was scheduled to be given by Paul Collins and the talk was expected to examine the archeology and history of the ancient kingdoms of Israel and Judah through artifacts held in the museum.
The event, which is also expected to touch on other historical events such as the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem and the Maccabean rebellion, was held as part of the UK’s first Jewish culture month, which runs until 16 June.
However, less than 24 hours before the event, the museum said the event would be postponed. The museum said in a statement that a “significant portion” of registered participants were “individuals who deliberately sought to disrupt the event, prevent others from participating in good faith, and undermine the purpose of the program.”
“The British Museum fully recognizes the importance of lawful protest and freedom of expression in a democratic society. Equally, we have a responsibility to ensure that events held at the museum can proceed safely, securely and without any threat to speakers, staff and visitors.”
The museum added that following discussions with organizers and security partners, a joint decision was made to postpone the event to a later date “when it can take place in an environment that appropriately preserves both the audience experience and the integrity of the programme.”
He said he will continue to support Jewish culture month by providing a space where history, culture and science can be explored “uninterrupted.”
George Osborne, head of the British Museum and former Conservative Chancellor, shared the organisation’s statement about X, saying: “It’s worth reading before speculating.”
But the museum’s decision was criticized by Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, Jewish commentators and free speech advocates who said publicly funded cultural institutions should not back down from hosting historical or cultural conversations about Jewish identity in response to the threat of protests.
Other critics of the move included BBC historian and presenter Simon Schama, who said it was cowardice and sent a “terrible message”.
Badenoch called on the government to intervene and tell the museum to “do what is necessary” for the event to go ahead. He said: “Jewish culture month is meant to promote and celebrate awareness of Jewish culture in the UK. This decision does the exact opposite. The government says it wants to tackle antisemitism; it needs to tell publicly funded institutions such as the British Museum to do what is necessary to organize the event.”
Broadcaster Jonathan Sacerdoti said the effect was “the cancellation of Jews and Jewish events in Britain, our home.” This is a shame. Bullies need to confront us, not be rewarded with our cancellation.”
Shadow attorney general David Wolfson said he had “no doubt that everyone was acting in good faith” at the museum but disagreed with the decision to postpone.
“This is the wrong decision at the wrong time and sends absolutely the wrong message,” he added.
The Board of Deputies of British Jews said it was “deeply regrettable that individuals would deliberately seek to disrupt a Jewish cultural month event celebrating Jewish cultural heritage”.
The organization added: “We will not allow the actions of extremists to stop the British public from enjoying these events.”
Earlier this month, there was a heavy security presence outside an exhibition telling the stories of attendees of the Nova festival in east London, which was attacked by Palestinian militants on October 7, 2023.
The British Museum did not say which groups were believed to be planning protests, but Jewish News reported that members of Jewish Artists for Palestine were among those who signed up to attend.
Jewish Artists for Palestine, a UK-based network of “anti-Zionist Jewish artists, writers, creators and cultural workers”, said on Thursday: “What is the point of having a conversation about such a controversial topic if not to invite questions and debate?”
The group said it was “perfectly legitimate” to expect a publicly funded museum to host conversations reflecting “diverse perspectives” and argued that treating the discussion as “a security concern” pointed to the event as a pro-Zionist propaganda exercise.
The organization also questioned why the speech was included in Jewish culture month, saying that “a growing number of UK Jews do not see Israel as part of their Jewish identity”. Calling for clarity on reported changes to references to Palestine in museum galleries, he described what he called “historical erasure” as “unacceptable” and called on the museum to “refuse to participate in the weaponization of archeology practiced by the state of Israel.” The group also renewed calls for the museum to drop its sponsorship from BP.
Jewish culture month was launched this year by the Board of Deputies as a month-long celebration of the Jewish contribution to British life and includes more than 100 events across the country covering music, food, literature, comedy and history.
Participating institutions include the V&A, Tate and Southbank Centre.
