British Museum Draws Criticism for Postponing Lecture on “Ancient History of Israel and Judah”
7June 2, 2026
The British Museum elected to postpone a Jewish Culture Month event that was scheduled to take place last Thursday, May 28th due to concerns that the talk—a lecture on Ancient Israel and Judah—might be disrupted by protests. “In recent days, we were informed that a significant proportion of registered attendees were individuals intending to deliberately disrupt the event, preventing others from participating in good faith and undermining the purpose of the programme,” the museum said in a statement addressing the decision to postpone. “The British Museum fully recognises the importance of lawful protest and freedom of expression in a democratic society. Equally, we have a responsibility to ensure that events hosted within the Museum can proceed safely, securely and without intimidation for speakers, staff and visitors alike.” The decision was met with pushback: Kemi Badenoch, the Leader of the Conservative Party, said that the British Museum should “do what’s necessary to put this event on.” Badenoch added that “Jewish Culture Month is meant to promote awareness of and celebrate Jewish culture in the UK. This decision achieves precisely the opposite.” BBC historian Simon Schama emerged as another public critic of the British Museum, and said that he thought the decision to delay the talk sent a “terrible message.” The organization Jewish Artists for Palestine also released a statement on the British Museum’s postponement of the event: “What is the purpose of holding a talk on such a controversial topic if not to invite questioning and debate? It is entirely legitimate to expect that a publicly funded museum would host conversations that reflect different points of view.” The statement concludes with the claim that the lecture “was never meant to be a legitimate opportunity to engage the public in their work.”Nicholas Cullinan, the director of the British Museum, wrote an individual statement in the Sunday Times defending the decision, claiming that the lecture “ought not to be controversial in one of the world’s leading institutions of scholarship.” In the same statement, Cullinan emphasized that “the event was not cancelled. It was postponed. That distinction matters.” On May 28th, the British Museum shared that the lecture has been rescheduled for early June, and that “Booking details will be published on [their] website shortly.” Related Maurizio Cattelan’s Banana Stolen from Centre Pompidou-Metz Giddily Toward Oblivion: Gladys Nilsson Paints the Human Comedy