The British Museum in London has come under fire for hosting an event for Israel’s so-called 'Independence Day', which coincides with the Palestinian Nakba, during which several right-wing to far-right politicians and figures were present.
According to the UK-based organisation, Energy Embargo for Palestine, the event’s details were deliberately kept under wraps. Insider sources told the group that staff and general visitors were told that a "large corporate event" was taking place instead.
Among those in attendance were UK Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, Israeli Ambassador to the UK Tzipi Hotovely, Reform Party leader Nigel Farage, and comedian Jimmy Carr.
Carr, a regular fixture on UK comedy panel shows, was filmed ignoring a pro-Palestinian protester who asked him whether he had hosted the event.
Social media posts about the event surfaced on Wednesday, a day after it took place.
Outside the museum, scores of pro-Palestinian demonstrators were confined to a side street by Metropolitan Police. Protesters held signs reading "British Museum, cut ties with Israeli genocide” and “War criminals out of public institutions".
Energy Embargo for Palestine told The New Arab that they protested outside the museum as they "believe it is unconscionable for a public institution to secretly host a propaganda event for the Israeli embassy in celebration of 'Israeli Independence Day' when more than 750,000 Palestinians were expelled from their land, and as Israel continues to enact a brutal genocide on Gaza".
They added: "For us, the fact that this event had to be organised in secret demonstrates the power of the Palestine solidarity movement in the UK. More than 70 percent of the British public want an end to the genocide in Gaza, and the majority of the British public have an unfavourable view of Israel."
"We've exposed the true face of the British Museum, which presents as a progressive institution, but has indeed opened its doors to racists, Neo-Nazis and transphobes, and profited from hiring the space out to them."
Author Noah Angell also criticised the British Museum on social media, calling the event a celebration of "foundational colonial violence during an active, UK-assisted genocide", a reference to Britain’s continued military exports to Israel despite growing calls for an arms embargo.
"For the love of all that’s good, stay away from this place. Boycott the BM," Angell posted on X.
Other attendees included Reform Party deputy leader Richard Tice, presenters from right-wing broadcaster GB News, and Maria Eagle, the UK minister for Defence Procurement and Industry, who spoke at the event about the UK's allyship with Israel and its "right to self-defence".
Energy Embargo for Palestine described Eagle's presence as a reflection of "of a horrifying link between a UK government minister responsible for exporting arms to a state committing genocide".
"It is not lost on us that Maria Eagle's speech in the British Museum comes on the same day the UK Government was brought to court by GLAN and Al-Haq for its export of F-35 jet parts to Israel."
The British Museum, long criticised for displaying artefacts looted during the colonial era, including the Rosetta Stone, has also faced pressure to end its financial partnership with BP. The fossil fuel giant was recently awarded licenses by Israel to explore for natural gas in its territorial waters.
The New Arab approached both the British Museum and the Israeli Embassy in London for comment but did not receive a response by the time of publication.
The event took place just two days before Palestinians across the occupied territories and diaspora marked the 77th anniversary of the Nakba, or "catastrophe", when Zionist militias carried out a mass campaign of ethnic cleansing and forced displacement against at least 750,000 Palestinians in 1948 to establish the State of Israel.
Over 500 Palestinian villages were destroyed or repopulated by Jewish settlers and renamed with Hebrew toponyms. To this day, many in Israeli society continue to downplay or deny the atrocities of the Nakba.
