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462<span class="field field-title">Exclusive: British Museum made false claims about its removal of ‘Palestine’ from displays</span>
463</h1>
464              <div class="author-field author-info">
465          <span class="author-inline"><span class="author-group"><a class="author-name" title="View user profile." href="/users/namir-shabibi">Namir Shabibi</a></span></span>
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475                    <div class="submitted-date">
476          <span class="date-created">Published date:</span> 1 July 2026 15:13 BST
477            <span class="date-separator">| </span>
478            <span class="date-updated">Last update:</span> <span id="date-updatedago" data-timeago="1782993048">2 months 3 weeks</span> ago        </div>
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495      <article data-history-node-id="443399" about="/big-story/exclusive-how-british-museum-made-false-claims-about-its-removal-palestine-displays" class="the-big-story full article-type clearfix">
496                <div class="field field-field-subhead">Internal emails reveal changes resulted directly from complaints by pro-Israel activists, with the museum and its director subsequently misleading prominent critics</div>
497      
498              <div class="field field-body clearfix"><p>The British Museum removed the terms “Palestine”, “Palestinian” and “Israelite occupation” from its displays in direct response to months of lobbying in 2024, a Middle East Eye investigation has found.</p>
499
500<p>In February 2026, the museum defended its decision to alter some displays, saying that “audience testing” showed the term “Palestine” to be “no longer meaningful”.</p>
501
502<p>However, a new <a href="https://unredacted.uk/documents/20260618-BM-FOIA-Response-13614">disclosure</a> by the museum to MEE, in response to a freedom of information request, confirms that no such testing was carried out, nor any visitor research related to the term “Palestine”.</p>
503
504<p>The museum’s various conflicting responses appear to obscure the full extent of changes made.</p>
505
506<p>In fact, the changes to displays referring to periods over 2,000 years old came after private and public complaints by organisations and high-profile individuals supportive of <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/israel">Israel</a> between October and December 2024, museum emails show.</p><div class="fp-hide" style="display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center; background-color: transparent; padding: 0; max-width: 100%; margin: 0 auto; box-sizing: border-box; border: 4px dashed #522F71; border-radius: 20px; padding-top: 20px; padding-bottom: 23px;">
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511        Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on
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520
521<p>MEE analysed <a href="https://unredacted.uk/documents/20260427-BM-FOIA-Response-12375">two</a> <a href="https://unredacted.uk/documents/20260427-BM-FOIA-Response-13622">sets</a> of heavily redacted internal emails and cross-referenced them with online complaints to identify some of the activists and public figures who lobbied the museum.</p>
522
523<p>Complainants include a former Daily Mail showbiz editor, a prominent historian and the Board of Deputies of British Jews, a pro-Israel Jewish community organisation which recently partnered with the museum on events marking Jewish Culture Month.</p>
524
525<p>Those complaints were lodged, and changes agreed by the museum, over 14 months before a well-publicised intervention by UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI), a pro-Israel campaigning organisation, earlier this year.</p>
526
527<div class="mee-readmore mee-readmore-article-story mee-readmore-type-image align-right">
528  <a class="mee-readmore-img-link" href="/news/ambassador-protests-uk-over-erasure-palestine-british-museum-exhibits"><img class="mee-readmore-image" src="/sites/default/files/styles/read_more/public/images-story/STARMER_BRITISH_MUSEUM_AFP.jpg.webp?itok=Oewa7HEG" width="400" height="250" alt loading="lazy" typeof="foaf:Image">
529
530</a>  <div class="mee-readmore-description">Palestine ambassador protests to UK over 'erasure' from British Museum exhibits</div>
531    <a class="mee-readmore-link" href="/news/ambassador-protests-uk-over-erasure-palestine-british-museum-exhibits">Read More »</a>
532</div>
533
534<p>Husam Zomlot, the <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/palestine">Palestinian</a> ambassador in the <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/uk">UK</a>, told MEE that the removal of references to Palestine in the museum's galleries was “absolutely existential for us” and said he had previously written to the museum and to the British government to demand their restoration.</p>
535
536<p>Zomlot said: “By removing references to Palestinian history, the British Museum is betraying their commitment to history and allowing themselves to be used for political purposes.</p>
537
538<p>“We will continue to work and communicate with all relevant bodies to make this message loud and clear, until the original labels are restored.”</p>
539
540<p>The British Museum told MEE it was “simply not true” that it had removed the term “Palestine” from displays. It did not provide answers to MEE's detailed list of questions relating to this investigation.</p>
541
542<p>The museum, which is publicly funded but run by a board of trustees, has faced multiple public relations crises since Nick Cullinan took over as director in 2024.</p>
543
544<p>In May last year, it faced criticism from its own staff after hosting an event with the Israeli embassy to mark Israel's independence day, which was attended by the country's then-ambassador to the UK, Tzipi Hotovely, who has spoken in support of the destruction of <a href="https://marshadecordova.laboursites.org/2024/01/05/letter-to-the-foreign-secretary-on-the-israeli-ambassador/">Gaza</a>.</p>
545
546<p>The event prompted demonstrations by pro-Palestinian campaign groups with protesters unfurling a banner reading “Colonial genocide” in the street in front of the museum's main courtyard.&nbsp;</p>
547
548  <figure role="group" class="media-block">
549  <div class="group-inner">
550    <div alt="Pro-Palestine protest outside British Museum" data-embed-button="file_browser" data-entity-embed-display="image:image" data-entity-embed-display-settings="{" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="ae19cfb7-2f4d-48ee-b754-80a782898888" data-langcode="en" class="embedded-entity">  <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/uk-british-museum-protest-palestine-may-2025-vuk-valcic-zuma-press-wire-reuters.jpg" width="1920" height="1080" alt="Pro-Palestine protest outside British Museum" t
550ypeof="foaf:Image">
551
552</div>
553
554    <figcaption>Protesters gather outside the British Museum to demonstrate after the museum hosted an event for the Israeli embassy in May 2025 (Vuk Valcic/ZUMA Press Wire/Reuters)</figcaption>
555  </div>
556</figure>
557
558
559<p><span style="background:rgba(220,220,220,0.5);background-image:url(https://www.middleeasteye.net/modules/contrib/ckeditor/vendor/plugins/widget/images/handle.png);display:none;"><img height="15" role="presentation" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw==" title="Click and drag to move" width="15" loading="lazy"></span></p>
560
561<p><span style="background: url(&quot;https://www.middleeasteye.net/modules/contrib/ckeditor/vendor/plugins/widget/images/handle.png&quot;) rgba(220, 220, 220, 0.5); top: -15px; left: 0px;"><img alt height="15" role="presentation" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw==" title="Click and drag to move" width="15" loading="lazy"></span></p>
562
563<p><span style="background:rgba(220,220,220,0.5);background-image:url(https://www.middleeasteye.net/modules/contrib/ckeditor/vendor/plugins/widget/images/handle.png);display:none;"><img alt height="15" role="presentation" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw==" title="Click and drag to move" width="15" loading="lazy"></span></p>
564
565<p><span style="background:rgba(220,220,220,0.5);background-image:url(https://www.middleeasteye.net/modules/contrib/ckeditor/vendor/plugins/widget/images/handle.png);display:none;"><img alt height="15" role="presentation" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw==" title="Click and drag to move" width="15" loading="lazy"></span></p>
566
567<p><span style="background:rgba(220,220,220,0.5);background-image:url(https://www.middleeasteye.net/modules/contrib/ckeditor/vendor/plugins/widget/images/handle.png);display:none;"><img alt height="15" role="presentation" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw==" title="Click and drag to move" width="15" loading="lazy"></span></p>
568
569<p><span style="background: url(&quot;https://www.middleeasteye.net/modules/contrib/ckeditor/vendor/plugins/widget/images/handle.png&quot;) rgba(220, 220, 220, 0.5); top: -15px; left: 0px;"><img alt height="15" role="presentation" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw==" title="Click and drag to move" width="15" loading="lazy"></span></p>
570
571<p><span style="background:rgba(220,220,220,0.5);background-image:url(https://www.middleeasteye.net/modules/contrib/ckeditor/vendor/plugins/widget/images/handle.png);display:none;"><img alt height="15" role="presentation" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw==" title="Click and drag to move" width="15" loading="lazy"></span></p>
572
573<p><span style="background:rgba(220,220,220,0.5);background-image:url(https://www.middleeasteye.net/modules/contrib/ckeditor/vendor/plugins/widget/images/handle.png);display:none;"><img alt height="15" role="presentation" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw==" title="Click and drag to move" width="15" loading="lazy"></span></p>
574
575<p><span style="background:rgba(220,220,220,0.5);background-image:url(https://www.middleeasteye.net/modules/contrib/ckeditor/vendor/plugins/widget/images/handle.png);display:none;"><img alt height="15" role="presentation" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw==" title="Click and drag to move" width="15" loading="lazy"></span></p>
576
577<p><span style="background: url(&quot;https://www.middleeasteye.net/modules/contrib/ckeditor/vendor/plugins/widget/images/handle.png&quot;) rgba(220, 220, 220, 0.5); top: -15px; left: 0px;"><img alt height="15" role="presentation" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw==" title="Click and drag to move" width="15" loading="lazy"></span>During its event with the Board of Deputies in May, the museum was forced to postpone a lecture titled “Ancient Israel and Judah in the British Museum”, citing concerns the event would be disrupted by pro-Palestinian protesters.</p>
578
579<p>The rescheduled lecture went ahead last month, with Cullinan telling the <a href="https://www.thejc.com/news/uk/we-will-not-be-intimidated-british-museum-director-rebuts-the-mob-as-israel-lecture-attracts-thousands-f1ag6zo5">Jewish Chronicle</a>&nbsp;newspaper that the museum would not “give in to intimidation”.</p>
580
581<p>But MEE can now reveal the context behind the British Museum’s rapid moves to appease pro-Israel lobbyists.</p>
582
583<p>Complainants argued that the inclusion of the term “Israelite occupation” in one display’s text on the Phoenicians, in an era over 2,000 years ago, would cause hatred and “justify attacks against Jews”.</p>
584
585<p>Prominent figures also sought to influence museum director Cullinan and board of trustees chair George Osborne, the former British chancellor and Conservative MP, directly.</p>
586
587<p>The speed at which the changes were agreed appears to undermine Cullinan’s subsequent defence that the museum’s curators had “thought long and hard” about the changes.</p>
588
589<p>In one case, the museum’s decision to appease a private complaint by the Board of Deputies was made within less than five hours of it being circulated internally.</p>
590
591<p>Controversial for defending Israel during its assault on Gaza, while attacking Israel’s critics, the Board did not reply to a request for comment by MEE.</p>
592
593<p>In emails urging a swift reply to one complaint, a museum staffer urged others to be “uber-conscious” of the first anniversary of the 7 October attacks. By contrast, no regard is shown for Palestinians facing what the UN calls a genocide, as well as cultural annihilation.</p>
594
595<p>“This chilling evidence indicates that pro-Israel groups have been simultaneously working to eliminate all mention of [Palestine’s] past,” Peter Leary, deputy director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), commented.</p>
596
597<p>“Deplorably, this campaign to erase Palestinian history seems to have unfolded against the backdrop of Israel’s genocide in Gaza, including the deliberate destruction of historic sites, universities and cultural institutions alongside homes, schools, hospitals.”</p>
598
599<p>
599The internal correspondence appears to contradict the museum director’s claim that the changes were made “during a regular gallery refresh”.</p>
600
601<p>Cullinan made the <a href="https://x.com/DalrympleWill/status/2023399058690158797?lang=en">statement</a> to reassure renowned historian William Dalrymple, who had said he was “<a href="https://x.com/DalrympleWill/status/2023112870008127653?s=20">appalled</a>” by the erasures.</p>
602
603<p>Emails also reveal internal staff dissent that the museum’s position was “contradictory”, with “standard” answers already available to address complaints related to content about Israel and Palestine.</p>
604
605<p>But they were swiftly overruled, with the museum agreeing to make the changes requested by complainants.</p>
606
607<p>In his attempts to pacify growing anger at the museum, Cullinan also told Dalrymple he knew “nothing” of UKLFI’s February 2026 intervention.</p>
608
609<p>Though heavily redacted, MEE's analysis of the internal emails appears to belie the claim. The museum acknowledged that the redactions were made by Cullinan himself.</p>
610
611<p>MEE’s investigation comes after the British Museum’s inconsistent explanations provoked <a href="https://newlinesmag.com/reportage/why-did-the-british-museum-remove-references-to-palestine/">suspicion</a> that it had “fallen under political influence”.</p>
612
613<p>The British Museum declined to substantively comment on MEE’s findings or provide answers to its detailed questions, instead reiterating a press statement made in <a href="https://www.britishmuseum.org/about-us/press/press-releases/statement-on-panels">February</a>.</p>
614
615<p>A spokesperson told MEE: “It has been reported that the British Museum has removed the term Palestine from displays. It is simply not true. We continue to use Palestine across a series of galleries, both contemporary and historic.”</p>
616
617<p>In the face of the lack of response to MEE’s questions, Leary, the PSC’s spokesperson, called on the museum to take steps “to address its own shameful record - by returning items looted from around the world, including Palestine - not choosing to collaborate with efforts to expunge Palestinians and their history”.</p>
618
619<p>In what follows, MEE charts the complaints lodged between October and December 2024, their arguments, the museum’s scramble to appease them, subsequent false statements by the museum director, and the national institution’s embrace of pro-Israel activists.</p>
620
621<h3>Audience ‘confusion’</h3>
622
623<p>Earlier this year, the museum found itself at the centre of a media storm after the Telegraph <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/02/14/british-museum-removes-palestine-references-from-ancient-mi/">claimed</a> that UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) had successfully lobbied for the removal of the term “Palestine” from exhibits.</p>
624
625<div class="mee-readmore mee-readmore-article-story mee-readmore-type-image align-right">
626  <a class="mee-readmore-img-link" href="/news/british-museum-removal-term-palestine-displays-part-systematic-attempt-erase-it-history"><img class="mee-readmore-image" src="/sites/default/files/styles/read_more/public/images-story/British%20museum.jpg.webp?itok=7KcD7yR-" width="400" height="250" alt loading="lazy" typeof="foaf:Image">
627
628</a>  <div class="mee-readmore-description">'Erasing history': British Museum criticised for removing references to ‘Palestine' from exhibits</div>
629    <a class="mee-readmore-link" href="/news/british-museum-removal-term-palestine-displays-part-systematic-attempt-erase-it-history">Read More »</a>
630</div>
631
632<p>Dalrymple called the move “<a href="https://x.com/DalrympleWill/status/2023040713748045974">ridiculous</a>”, “<a href="https://x.com/DalrympleWill/status/2023112870008127653?s=20">pathetic and appalling</a>”, noting that the first mention of “Palestine” dates to 1,186 BCE and enjoys “greater antiquity than the word British”. Two hundred cultural figures <a href="https://novaramedia.com/2026/03/11/brian-eno-tells-british-museum-to-stop-supporting-israels-genocide/">urged</a> the museum to “stop erasing Palestine”.</p>
633
634<p>In its defence, the museum <a href="https://unredacted.uk/documents/20260427-BM-FOIA-Response-12373">told</a> UKLFI and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/may/06/palestinian-ambassador-protest-foreign-office-british-museum">repeated</a> in the press that “Audience testing has shown that the historic use of the term Palestine … is in some circumstances no longer meaningful”.</p>
635
636<p>Audience testing is when museums gather data on how visitors interact with exhibits, and the British Museum <a href="https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/projects/visitor-research-and-evaluation">holds</a> an “extensive archive” of such reports.</p>
637
638<p>But the museum <a href="https://unredacted.uk/documents/20260618-BM-FOIA-Response-13614">admitted</a>
638 to having no such data after MEE asked for copies of all records relating to the audience testing of “Palestine”.</p>
639
640<p>It instead claimed there had been general research finding that some visitors could experience “confusion” between “‘Palestine’ as a historic regional designation …[and] the modern state of Palestine today”. It provided MEE with no copies of any such findings.</p>
641
642<p>Museum staff did, however, proactively concern themselves with the complaints of prominent Israel sympathisers on social media, worrying about finalising responses quickly, before the 7 October anniversary.</p>
643
644<div alt="British Museum FOI emails" data-embed-button="file_browser" data-entity-embed-display="image:image" data-entity-embed-display-settings="{" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="837fc490-cf67-4bfb-a170-af612ea03969" data-langcode="en" class="embedded-entity">  <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/british-museum-2-mee_0.jpg" width="1662" height="506" alt="British Museum FOI emails" typeof="foaf:Image">
645
646</div>
647
648
649<p style="margin-bottom:11px">The changes may have been approved at the highest level - the name “Eoin” mistakenly left unredacted may refer to Eoin Martin, the museum’s director of governance and board secretary. Asked if this was the case, the museum offered no comment.</p>
650
651<p style="margin-bottom:11px">The emails seen by MEE appear to show that museum staff first discussed whether to make changes to Palestine-related explanatory texts in its galleries in response to a visitor complaint about an exhibit referencing the Hyskos, a group of rulers of ancient Egypt that the museum had described as being of “Palestinian descent”.</p>
652
653<p>Removal of “Palestinian” was “appropriate”, the complainant argued, due to “current tensions in the Middle East and the rampant disinformation… in many media”. The sender copied the email to the Board of Deputies and the US-based Anti-Defamation League (ADL), which has been accused of smearing critics of Israel and defenders of Palestinian rights as “antisemitic”.</p>
654
655<p>The Board of Deputies recently <a href="https://x.com/BoardofDeputies/status/2066105937023184903">defended</a> the controversial Great Israeli Real Estate <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/exclusive-illegal-settlements-promoted-london-great-israeli-real-estate-event">event</a> in London, which advertised illegal colonies on stolen Palestinian land, <a href="https://x.com/BoardofDeputies/status/2066105937023184903">accusing </a>protesters of wanting to target Jews.</p>
656
657<p>Despite one staffer reminding colleagues that the complaint could be addressed with the museum’s “standard answer”, a day later the museum assured the individual complainant that “a revised panel will be produced and installed as soon as possible”.</p>
658
659<div alt="British Museum FOI emails" data-embed-button="file_browser" data-entity-embed-display="image:image" data-entity-embed-display-settings="{" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="245f97c0-f78f-4688-86a5-5a6a80cc585a" data-langcode="en" class="embedded-entity">  <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/british-museum-4-mee.jpg" width="1682" height="907" alt="British Museum FOI emails" typeof="foaf:Image">
660
661</div>
662
663
664<p style="margin-bottom:11px">A staffer suggested changing the panel to “rulers originating in Palestine”. Within 20 minutes they were overruled: in a reply set to “high importance”, a decision was made to change the text to “rulers of Canaanite origin”.</p>
665
666<p style="margin-bottom:11px">A month later, on 28 November, a museum staffer circulated a <a href="https://x.com/nicolelampert/status/1862030839753924693">tweet</a> from former Daily Mail showbiz editor Nicole Lampert, complaining about an old permanent gallery panel on the Phoenicians.</p>
667
668<p>In her post, Lampert claims that the statement “Israelites occupied most of Palestine” was “factually wrong - dangerously so”.</p>
669
670<div alt="British Museum FOI emails" data-embed-button="file_browser" data-entity-embed-display="image:image" data-entity-embed-display-settings="{" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="85e9d919-e68a-4617-b530-4754dfc20443" data-langcode="en" class="embedded-entity">  <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/british-museum-5-mee.jpg" width="1300" height="1632" alt="British Museum FOI emails" typeof="foaf:Image">
671
672</div>
673
674
675<p style="margin-bottom:11px">Multiple museum teams circulated Lampert’s tweet internally. Yet there is no evidence of any due diligence on Lampert, or her possible political motivations behind her complaint.</p>
676
677<p>Lampert, a fierce defender of Israel, recently <a href="https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-15686363/Zack-Polanski-rebellion-family-UK-Green-Party-Prime-Minister.html">claimed</a> family members of Jewish Green Party leader Zack Polanski told her they feared having to flee the UK in the event of a Green Party win, calling it “the future Islam
677ic party of Britain”.</p>
678
679<div alt="British Museum FOI emails" data-embed-button="file_browser" data-entity-embed-display="image:image" data-entity-embed-display-settings="{" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="3c9ca8c0-77c4-490e-bf9c-3dfaa4f84fa1" data-langcode="en" class="embedded-entity">  <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/british-museum-7-mee.jpg" width="1720" height="857" alt="British Museum FOI emails" typeof="foaf:Image">
680
681</div>
682
683
684<p style="margin-bottom:11px">The next day, the museum received a separate private complaint which argued that “if the British Museum labels Jews as occupiers this will justify attacks against Jews.”</p>
685
686<p style="margin-bottom:11px">Within days, museum staffers had decided that the Phoenicians panel should be changed from rulers of “Palestinian descent” to “Canaanite descent”, to “prevent such misunderstandings”, with edits to Room 57 text on the Ancient Levant confirmed in internal emails, along with an intention to “look at the maps in Room 4”.</p>
687
688<p>None of the emails exchanged reference the formal processes of visitor research and audience testing to justify changes to the texts.</p>
689
690<p>Instead, the museum appears troubled by “concerns that we’re seeing on social media” that the texts were developed “in reaction to the conflict in the region” - though some of the disputed texts were installed between 1998 and 2008.</p>
691
692<div alt="British Museum FOI emails" data-embed-button="file_browser" data-entity-embed-display="image:image" data-entity-embed-display-settings="{" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="a3bb17fc-5b82-4a99-aba5-5253db5201a7" data-langcode="en" class="embedded-entity">  <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/british-museum-8-mee.jpg" width="1710" height="695" alt="British Museum FOI emails" typeof="foaf:Image">
693
694</div>
695
696
697<p>Days later, museum staff reference retweets of Lampert’s post, including by “high profile historians”. This is likely a reference to historian and TV presenter Simon Sebag Montefiore, who <a href="https://x.com/simonmontefiore/status/1862134808316395918">echoed</a> her complaint.</p>
698
699<p>He described the term “Israelite occupation” as “progressive presentist inversion and distortion of history”. Montefiore has previously <a href="https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/simon-sebag-montefiore-warns-we-are-witnessing-the-end-of-the-taboo-on-antisemitism/">accused</a> Palestinian rights campaigners of “exploiting medieval tropes of antisemitism”.</p>
700
701<div alt="British Museum FOI emails" data-embed-button="file_browser" data-entity-embed-display="image:image" data-entity-embed-display-settings="{" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="482a308c-165a-492b-a268-0c13eb3548c1" data-langcode="en" class="embedded-entity">  <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/british-museum-11-mee.jpg" width="1737" height="1200" alt="British Museum FOI emails" typeof="foaf:Image">
702
703</div>
704
705
706<p style="margin-bottom:11px">Montefiore <a href="https://x.com/simonmontefiore/status/1862181814988603546?s=20">reminded</a> his followers that he knew the museum director, Cullinan, and its chair, Osborne, “well”. He then assured his followers that “they’ll be the first to oversee its correction”.</p>
707
708<p style="margin-bottom:11px">A week following Lampert and Montefiore’s interventions, the museum faced a new complaint, this time raised in a letter from the Board of Deputies, although the normally vocal lobby group did not publicise its intervention.</p>
709
710<p>While the museum has not disclosed the Board’s letter, subsequent museum emails reveal that it related to an exhibit panel which read “Israelites occupied most of Palestine”, with the complaint that “occupied” had become “politically charged in the context of contemporary politics”.</p>
711
712<p>Within five hours of the letter being circulated, a staffer proposed notifying the lobby group that the words “Israelites” and “occupied” would be removed “to ensure that the meaning intended is clear for our audiences”.</p>
713
714<p>The museum’s reasoning behind the change was simply that the terms were “unnecessary”. Subsequent internal 
714correspondence shows the changes were implemented in January 2025.</p>
715
716  <figure role="group" class="media-block">
717  <div class="group-inner">
718    <div alt="British Museum caption text (New Lines Magazine)" data-embed-button="file_browser" data-entity-embed-display="image:image" data-entity-embed-display-settings="{" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="59897d1f-335e-4f11-99c3-00859ea556b2" data-langcode="en" class="embedded-entity">  <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/photo-newlines.jpg" width="1024" height="576" alt="British Museum caption text (New Lines Magazine)" typeof="foaf:Image">
719
720</div>
721
722    <figcaption>Left: The more recent Phoenician panel, with no reference to Palestine. Right: The previous version of the panel with reference to Palestine and the Philistines. (Images provided to and <a href="https://newlinesmag.com/reportage/why-did-the-british-museum-remove-references-to-palestine/">published</a> by New Lines magazine)</figcaption>
723  </div>
724</figure>
725
726
727<p><span style="background:rgba(220,220,220,0.5);background-image:url(https://www.middleeasteye.net/modules/contrib/ckeditor/vendor/plugins/widget/images/handle.png);display:none;"><img height="15" role="presentation" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw==" title="Click and drag to move" width="15" loading="lazy"></span></p>
728
729<p><span style="background:rgba(220,220,220,0.5);background-image:url(https://www.middleeasteye.net/modules/contrib/ckeditor/vendor/plugins/widget/images/handle.png);display:none;"><img alt height="15" role="presentation" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw==" title="Click and drag to move" width="15" loading="lazy"></span></p>
730
731<p><span style="background: url(&quot;https://www.middleeasteye.net/modules/contrib/ckeditor/vendor/plugins/widget/images/handle.png&quot;) rgba(220, 220, 220, 0.5); top: -15px; left: 0px;"><img alt height="15" role="presentation" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw==" title="Click and drag to move" width="15" loading="lazy"></span></p>
732
733<p><span style="background:rgba(220,220,220,0.5);background-image:url(https://www.middleeasteye.net/modules/contrib/ckeditor/vendor/plugins/widget/images/handle.png);display:none;"><img alt height="15" role="presentation" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw==" title="Click and drag to move" width="15" loading="lazy"></span></p>
734
735<p><span style="background:rgba(220,220,220,0.5);background-image:url(https://www.middleeasteye.net/modules/contrib/ckeditor/vendor/plugins/widget/images/handle.png);display:none;"><img alt height="15" role="presentation" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw==" title="Click and drag to move" width="15" loading="lazy"></span></p>
736
737<p><span style="background: url(&quot;https://www.middleeasteye.net/modules/contrib/ckeditor/vendor/plugins/widget/images/handle.png&quot;) rgba(220, 220, 220, 0.5); top: -15px; left: 0px;"><img alt height="15" role="presentation" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw==" title="Click and drag to move" width="15" loading="lazy"></span>At some point in 2025, a change is also made to the entrance to the Ancient Levant room, removing “modern Palestine” from a longer list of countries, and replacing it with Gaza and the West Bank.</p>
738
739<p>Discussions around this change are referenced but not discussed extensively in the disclosures analysed by MEE. However, the changes were captured in photos shared with New Lines <a href="https://newlinesmag.com/reportage/why-did-the-british-museum-remove-references-to-palestine/">magazine</a>.</p>
740
741<h3>Gaslighting critics</h3>
742
743<p>MEE's investigation appears to raise questions about the British Museum's public response in the wake of UKLFI's intervention in February, and its claim that it has not removed “Palestine” from exhibit texts.</p>
744
745<p style="margin-bottom:11px">At the time, Cullinan claimed to Dalrymple that the changes were made “during a regular gallery refresh”, and that the museum’s curators had “thought long and hard” about them.</p>
746
747<p>Both assertions appear to have been disproven by the museum’s own emails, and the museum director appears to have made other implausible statements.</p>
748
749<p>He told Dalrymple he “knew nothing about” the UKLFI-related storm, and that he “hadn’t even seen that [UKLFI] letter” until four days after the museum issued its response - “despite asking for it”.</p>
750
751<p>Cullinan’s claim appears to be contradicted both by the museum’s internal 
751correspondence, and by UKLFI <a href="https://www.uklfi.com/british-museum-under-pressure-to-change-historically-inaccurate-use-of-palestine">itself</a>. UKLFI’s letter is addressed to Cullinan by name, and <a href="https://unredacted.uk/documents/20260427-BM-FOIA-Response-12373">sent directly to</a> his office email. Internal correspondence also confirms that staff “flagged [it] with the Director’s Office”.</p>
752
753<div alt="British Museum FOI emails" data-embed-button="file_browser" data-entity-embed-display="image:image" data-entity-embed-display-settings="{" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="fdf8f3c3-5a83-4f16-9864-40493ac6dcde" data-langcode="en" class="embedded-entity">  <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/british-museum-17-mee.jpg" width="1190" height="1185" alt="British Museum FOI emails" typeof="foaf:Image">
754
755</div>
756
757
758<p>The museum has already proven impervious to staff <a href="https://www.artsprofessional.co.uk/news/furious-british-museum-staff-demand-leadership-end-ties-with-israeli-cultural-institutions">fury</a> and broader culture worker <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/over-200-culture-workers-demand-british-museum-apologise-israeli-embassy-event?utm_source=twitter&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_campaign=Social_Traffic&amp;utm_content=ap_bv1cswz0nj">protests</a> over events linked to Israel, such as the embassy's independence day celebration last year.</p>
759
760<p>As well as Hotovely, this was attended by&nbsp;prominent politicians including Nigel Farage and Kemi Badenoch, the respective leaders of the Reform and Conservative parties.</p>
761
762<div class="mee-readmore mee-readmore-article-story mee-readmore-type-image align-right">
763  <a class="mee-readmore-img-link" href="/news/disgusted-and-betrayed-british-museum-ignores-mounting-staff-anger-over-israel-event"><img class="mee-readmore-image" src="/sites/default/files/styles/read_more/public/images-story/Tzipi%20Hotovely%20x%20.jpg.webp?itok=q2QBE3og" width="400" height="250" alt loading="lazy" typeof="foaf:Image">
764
765</a>  <div class="mee-readmore-description">'Disgusted and betrayed': British Museum ignores mounting staff anger over Israel event</div>
766    <a class="mee-readmore-link" href="/news/disgusted-and-betrayed-british-museum-ignores-mounting-staff-anger-over-israel-event">Read More »</a>
767</div>
768
769<p>Staff <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/disgusted-and-betrayed-british-museum-ignores-mounting-staff-anger-over-israel-event" target="_blank">told MEE</a> that they received “absolute non-responses” from management to multiple letters.</p>
770
771<p>Last year, the museum held a fundraising “Pink Ball”, featuring BP and companies accused by activists of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/campaigners-celebrities-british-museum-event-climate-palestine">links to</a> Israel’s genocide in Gaza, including JCB and Reliance Defence. But following a successful campaign, multiple celebrities, including Idris Elba and Zadie Smith, pulled out.</p>
772
773<p><a href="https://www.britishmuseum.org/press-release/sunday-times-dr-nicholas-cullinan-obe">Writing</a> for the Sunday Times ahead of the museum's <a href="https://bod.org.uk/bod-news/british-museum-event-on-ancient-israel-and-judah-draws-largest-audience-of-jewish-culture-month/">hosting</a>&nbsp;last month of the rescheduled lecture with the Board of Deputies to mark Jewish Culture Month, Cullinan lamented protests outside the museum which had prompted its earlier postponement at an “understandably difficult moment for the Jewish community in the UK”.</p>
774
775<p>MEE could find no such expression of sympathy by Cullinan for the Palestinian people in the face of mass destruction of their heritage and people.</p>
776
777<p>Cullinan continued: “We live in uneasy times, when historical subjects are often drawn into contemporary conflicts. Yet the answer cannot be to abandon difficult conversations.”</p>
778
779<p>Unless, MEE's investigation appears to suggest, that conversation concerns Palestine.</p>
780
781<p>Zomlot, Palestine's ambassador, told MEE he had spoken to Cullinan on the phone on 16 February, shortly after the story of the removal of references to Palestine had first emerged. The museum's director, Zomlot said, had been “absolutely insistent that nothing has changed”.</p>
782
783<p>But Zomlot was unconvinced. “From day one the British Museum’s story did not add up. I refuse to give them the benefit of the doubt having conducted our own investigation and discovered the removal of references to ancient and modern-day Palestine, despite formal recognition by the UK government.,” he said.</p>
784
785<p>“Erasing history is the first step to erasing the future. This is absolutely existential for us in light of the ongoing genocide.”</p>
786
787<p><em><strong>Editor's note:</strong> This story originally referred to "changes to displays dating as far as 7,500 BC". This referred to the Ancient Levant display covering the peri
787od 7,500-332 BCE. The text has been amended for clarity.</em></p>
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819        <div class="mee-tile-author">Marchella Ward</div>
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824    <a aria-label="Kemi Badenoch, Nigel Farage and Jimmy Carr attend secret Israeli party at British Museum" href="/news/kemi-badenoch-nigel-farage-and-jimmy-carr-attended-secret-israeli-embassy-party-british-museum"><img src="/sites/default/files/styles/landing_tile/public/images-story/Gq7jTH8WUAAYjQg.jpg.webp?itok=5qBeLFoy" width="448" height="280" alt="" loading="lazy" typeof="foaf:Image" />
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829    <div class="mee-tile-topic"><a href="/topics/uk-politics">UK Politics</a></div>
830    <a aria-label="Kemi Badenoch, Nigel Farage and Jimmy Carr attend secret Israeli party at British Museum" class="mee-tile-title" href="/news/kemi-badenoch-nigel-farage-and-jimmy-carr-attended-secret-israeli-embassy-party-british-museum">Kemi Badenoch, Nigel Farage and Jimmy Carr attend secret Israeli party at British Museum</a>
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840    <div class="mee-tile-topic"><a href="/topics/israel-genocide-gaza">Israel&#039;s genocide in Gaza</a></div>
841    <a aria-label="Celebrities quit British Museum event after climate and pro-Palestine pressure, say campaigners" class="mee-tile-title" href="/news/campaigners-celebrities-british-museum-event-climate-palestine">Celebrities quit British Museum event after climate and pro-Palestine pressure, say campaigners</a>
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859      <img width="1200" height="858" class="en footer" src="/themes/mee_subtheme/images/logo-en.svg" alt="Home" />
860    </a>
861  <nav role="navigation" aria-labelledby="block-top-menu-en-footer-menu" id="block-top-menu-en-footer">
862            
863  <h3 class="visually-hidden block-title" id="block-top-menu-en-footer-menu">Top Menu En</h3>
864  
865
866        
867      <ul class="menu menu--top-menu-en nav">
868                        <li class="navitem-live">
869        <a href="/live" class="navitem-live" data-drupal-link-system-path="live">Live</a>
870                  </li>
871                        <li class="navitem-news">
872        <a href="/news" class="navitem-news" data-drupal-link-system-path="node/120391">News</a>
873                  </li>
874                        <li class="navitem-trending">
875        <a href="/trending" class="navitem-trending" data-drupal-link-system-path="node/377566">Trending</a>
876                  </li>
877                        <li class="navitem-opinion">
878        <a href="/opinion" class="navitem-opinion" data-drupal-link-system-path="node/120006">Opinion</a>
879                  </li>
880                        <li class="navitem-video">
881        <a href="/video" class="navitem-video" data-drupal-link-system-path="node/120011">Video</a>
882                  </li>
883                        <li class="navitem-explainers">
884        <a href="/explainers" class="navitem-explainers" data-drupal-link-system-path="node/377571">Explainers</a>
885                  </li>
886        </ul>
887  
888
889  </nav>
890<section id="block-socialmedialinks-footer" class="block-social-media-links block block-social-media-links-block clearfix">
891  
892    
893
894      
895
896<ul class="social-media-links--platforms platforms inline horizontal">
897      <li>
898      <a class="social-media-link-icon--youtube" href="https://www.youtube.com/MiddleEastEye"  target="_blank" rel="nofollow" >
899        <span class='fab fa-youtube fa-lg'></span>
900
901        
902        <span class="platform--name visually-hidden">Youtube</span>
903      </a>
904    </li>
905      <li>
906      <a class="social-media-link-icon--twitter" href="https://x.com/MiddleEastEye"  target="_blank" rel="nofollow" >
907        <span class='fab fa-x-twitter fa-lg'></span>
908
909        
910        <span class="platform--name visually-hidden">X</span>
911      </a>
912    </li>
913      <li>
914      <a class="social-media-link-icon--instagram" href="https://www.instagram.com/middleeasteye"  target="_blank" rel="nofollow" >
915        <span class='fab fa-instagram fa-lg'></span>
916
917        
918        <span class="platform--name visually-hidden">Instagram</span>
919      </a>
920    </li>
921      <li>
922      <a class="social-media-link-icon--facebook" href="https://www.facebook.com/MiddleEastEye"  target="_blank" rel="nofollow" >
923        <span class='fab fa-facebook fa-lg'></span>
924
925        
926        <span class="platform--name visually-hidden">Facebook</span>
927      </a>
928    </li>
929      <li>
930      <a class="social-media-link-icon--tiktok" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@middleeasteye"  target="_blank" rel="nofollow" >
931        <span class='fab fa-tiktok fa-lg'></span>
932
933        
934        <span class="platform--name visually-hidden">TikTok</span>
935      </a>
936    </li>
937  </ul>
938
939  </section>
940
941
942  </div>
943
944      <a class="top-link" href="#"><i class="fa fa-angle-double-up"></i>Top</a>
945    </div>
946    <div id="footer-bottom-wrapper">
947        <div class="region region-footer-bottom">
948    <section class="views-element-container block-collapsible block-collapsed block block-views block-views-blockcountries-list-block-2 clearfix" id="block-countries-list-block-footer">
949  
950      <h3 class="block-title">Countries</h3>
951    
952
953      <div class="container-element"><div class="js-view-dom-id-ba6f35a15168974b044859d518e718b56819a438752d02a12275c329f996f6f0 view-content">
954  
955  
956  
957
958  
959  
960  
961
962  <div class="views-rows"><div class="item-list">
963  
964  <ul>
965
966          <li><div class="views-field views-field-name"><span class="field-content"><a href="/countries/algeria" hreflang="en">Algeria</a></span></div></li>
967          <li><div class="views-field views-field-name"><span class="field-content"><a href="/countries/bahrain" hreflang="en">Bahrain</a></span></div></li>
968          <li><div class="views-field views-field-name"><span class="field-content"><a href="/countries/china" hreflang="en">China</a></span></div></li>
969          <li><div class="views-field views-field-name"><span class="field-content"><a href="/countries/egypt" hreflang="en">Egypt</a></span></div></li>
970          <li><div class="views-field views-field-name"><span class="field-content"><a href="/countries/france" hreflang="en">France</a></span></div></li>
971          <li><div class="views-field views-field-name"><span class="field-content"><a href="/countries/germany" hreflang="en">Germany</a></span></div></li>
972          <li><div class="views-field views-field-name"><span class="field-content"><a href="/countries/india" hreflang="en">India</a></span></div></li>
973          <li><div class="views-field views-field-name"><span class="field-content"><a href="/countries/iran" hreflang="en">Iran</a></span></div></li>
974          <li><div class="views-field views-field-name"><span class="field-content"><a href="/countries/iraq" hreflang="en">
974Iraq</a></span></div></li>
975          <li><div class="views-field views-field-name"><span class="field-content"><a href="/countries/israel" hreflang="en">Israel</a></span></div></li>
976          <li><div class="views-field views-field-name"><span class="field-content"><a href="/countries/jordan" hreflang="en">Jordan</a></span></div></li>
977          <li><div class="views-field views-field-name"><span class="field-content"><a href="/countries/kuwait" hreflang="en">Kuwait</a></span></div></li>
978          <li><div class="views-field views-field-name"><span class="field-content"><a href="/countries/lebanon" hreflang="en">Lebanon</a></span></div></li>
979          <li><div class="views-field views-field-name"><span class="field-content"><a href="/countries/libya" hreflang="en">Libya</a></span></div></li>
980          <li><div class="views-field views-field-name"><span class="field-content"><a href="/countries/mauritania" hreflang="en">Mauritania</a></span></div></li>
981          <li><div class="views-field views-field-name"><span class="field-content"><a href="/countries/morocco" hreflang="en">Morocco</a></span></div></li>
982          <li><div class="views-field views-field-name"><span class="field-content"><a href="/countries/oman" hreflang="en">Oman</a></span></div></li>
983          <li><div class="views-field views-field-name"><span class="field-content"><a href="/countries/pakistan" hreflang="en">Pakistan</a></span></div></li>
984          <li><div class="views-field views-field-name"><span class="field-content"><a href="/countries/palestine" hreflang="en">Palestine</a></span></div></li>
985          <li><div class="views-field views-field-name"><span class="field-content"><a href="/countries/qatar" hreflang="en">Qatar</a></span></div></li>
986          <li><div class="views-field views-field-name"><span class="field-content"><a href="/countries/russia" hreflang="en">Russia</a></span></div></li>
987          <li><div class="views-field views-field-name"><span class="field-content"><a href="/countries/saudi-arabia" hreflang="en">Saudi Arabia</a></span></div></li>
988          <li><div class="views-field views-field-name"><span class="field-content"><a href="/countries/sudan" hreflang="en">Sudan</a></span></div></li>
989          <li><div class="views-field views-field-name"><span class="field-content"><a href="/countries/syria" hreflang="en">Syria</a></span></div></li>
990          <li><div class="views-field views-field-name"><span class="field-content"><a href="/countries/tunisia" hreflang="en">Tunisia</a></span></div></li>
991          <li><div class="views-field views-field-name"><span class="field-content"><a href="/countries/turkey" hreflang="en">Turkey</a></span></div></li>
992          <li><div class="views-field views-field-name"><span class="field-content"><a href="/countries/uk" hreflang="en">UK</a></span></div></li>
993          <li><div class="views-field views-field-name"><span class="field-content"><a href="/countries/uae" hreflang="en">United Arab Emirates</a></span></div></li>
994          <li><div class="views-field views-field-name"><span class="field-content"><a href="/countries/us" hreflang="en">US</a></span></div></li>
995          <li><div class="views-field views-field-name"><span class="field-content"><a href="/countries/yemen" hreflang="en">Yemen</a></span></div></li>
996    
997  </ul>
998
999</div>
1000</div>
1001  
1002  
1003
1004  
1005  
1006
1007  
1008  
1009</div>
1010</div>
1011
1012  </section>
1013
1014<section id="block-about" class="block-collapsible block-collapsed block block-system block-system-menu-blockabout clearfix">
1015  
1016      <h3 class="block-title">About</h3>
1017    
1018
1019    <div class="container-element">
1020    
1021      <ul class="menu menu--about">
1022                        <li>
1023        <a href="/about-middle-east-eye" data-drupal-link-system-path="node/2">About us</a>
1024                  </li>
1025                        <li>
1026        <a href="/privacy-policy" data-drupal-link-system-path="node/3">Privacy</a>
1027                  </li>
1028                        <li>
1029        <a href="/terms-and-conditions" data-drupal-link-system-path="node/1">Terms and conditions</a>
1030                  </li>
1031                        <li>
1032        <a href="/careers" title="Careers" data-drupal-link-system-path="node/261061">Careers</a>
1033                  </li>
1034                        <li>
1035        <a href="/form/contact" title="Contact Us" data-drupal-link-system-path="webform/contact">Contact us</a>
1036                  </li>
1037        </ul>
1038  
1039
1040  </div>
1041</section>
1042
1043<section id="block-copyright" class="block block-block-content block-block-content1f6aeddb-b5ee-4c7c-9eb5-f21cb5a0bf3c clearfix">
1044  
1045    
1046
1047                  <div class="field field-body clearfix"><p><span>Copyright © 2014 - 2026</span><em>.</em><span>&nbsp;Middle East Eye. All rights reserved. </span> <span>Only England and Wales jurisdiction apply in all legal matters.</span></p>
1048
1049<p><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><strong>Middle East Eye&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;ISSN 2634-2456&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</strong></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p></div>
1050      
1051  </section>
1052
1053
1054  </div>
1055
1056    </div>
1057  </footer>
1058
1059  </div>
1060
1061    
1062    
1062<script src="/sites/default/files/js/js_nW896jHZkeVGitdQAt0-RTjcrnyOU5iux7GFey56vtQ.js?scope=footer&amp;delta=0&amp;language=en&amp;theme=mee_subtheme&amp;include=eJxtjkESgjAMRS9U7ZE6oXzbakugSUe8vYC4ENwkP29eMvGcuXY8W78H8w22x41aVtMnmZrYTzOBOWQ4pWDDUo7zle40_8JiCuA8l5EHDCo2YEClvGFhnyg7iVRh06CoHqMudluzq5gaRM_qEVy3qjHJ2RVN_vG6PFMfsJ9qnUYUWL8I2oHUCKj66GhMjpry-m6GLsv_-RsDfntN"></script>
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1073<script src="/themes/mee_subtheme/bootstrap/assets/javascripts/bootstrap/tab.js?tltchd" defer></script>
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1078  </body>
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Line numbers count LF bytes from the start of the resource, as the search results do. Vendor segments are library code the classifier recognised; they are stored but not indexed. Bytes are shown as Latin1 characters, one per byte.