Staffers from the British Museum have criticized its decision to allow the Israeli embassy in London to organize a party on its premises celebrating the 77th anniversary of the founding of Israel, the Art Newspaper reported Monday.
Several staff members who did not want to be named told TAN that they were “furious” over the event, and have circulated an internal petition directed at the museum’s director, Nicholas Cullinan and the board of trustees. The petition, now signed by 250 pepole, demands that the museum end relations with Israeli cultural institutions.
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According to TAN, the signatories of the petition indicated that they are worried that percieved support for Israel could damage the work of curators if foreign institutions decide not to partner with the museum. Other staff have argued that hosting the event violated the museum’s code of impartiality.
“Fundamentally, this was a commercial event, and as such is different to activities or events the Museum generates or hosts itself,” the British Museum told ARTnews in an email. “All decisions about commercial events are taken on a non-political basis and the Museum, as an arm’s length can’t deviate from, or undermine, the UK government’s foreign policy.”
“We are very aware of the strong feelings held, and respect people’s rights to express their views. We can all agree that the loss of life on all sides is desperately sad,” the museum added.
The party took place on May 13 and included Tzipi Hotovely, the Israeli ambassador to the UK, and Angela Eagle, the UK minister for defense procurement and industry, as speakers. Kemi Badenoch, the leader of the Conservatives, and Nigel Farage, the leader of the Reform UK party, were also in attendance. British comedian Jimmy Carr hosted the event.
Days after the event, UK media organization Middle East Eye reported that the event was not advertised and the museum’s staff were asked to leave early.
“The UK stood with Israel, with the RAF conducting surveillance flights over the Eastern Mediterranean in support of hostage rescue efforts,” Eagle is reported to have said in a speech, according to the publication. “We stood with Israel when Iran launched its reckless coordinated missile and drone attacks, with RAF aircraft intercepting a number of them. It’s been hard over the last couple of years to see Israel going through some of the most difficult times in its history.”
For many Palestinians, the anniversary represents the “Nakba” (translated as “catastrophe” in Arabic) because it marks the forcible displacement of approximately 750,000 Palestinians from their ancestral lands.
Pro-Palestine group Energy Embargo for Palestine, as well as the pro-Israel groups Stop the Hate and Our Fight UK, protested in London on the night of the party.
“It is not possible that neither the director nor the chair of the board of trustees were aware of this event, nor is it possible that they did not fully understand the implications of it,” Venetia Porter, the British Museum’s ex-curator of Islamic art and contemporary Middle Eastern art, told TAN. “To host such a partisan event when we know that there is an ongoing genocide seems to be anathema to what I always treasured about the British Museum.”