The British Museum has decided to remove the word “Palestine” from several displays in its ancient Middle East galleries. This change came after UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLIF), a group of solicitors, raised concerns about the term being inaccurate and non-neutral historically. Earlier, museum maps and panels called the eastern Mediterranean coast “Palestine” and mentioned people of “Palestinian descent”. UKLIF wrote to the museum director, Nicholas Cullinan, saying that using “Palestine” for the whole region across thousands of years erases history. They said it ignores the kingdoms of Israel and Judea from around 1,000 BC and wrongly suggests the Israelites and Jewish people came from “Palestine”. The group asked the museum to use names like Canaan, Israel, Judah, or Judea depending on the time period. The museum stated that changes were started last year after feedback and research. It said “Palestine” was once seen as a neutral geographic term since the late 19th century but now is linked to political territory and is no longer neutral. The museum uses “Canaan” for the southern Levant in the late second millennium BC and applies UN terms like Gaza, West Bank, Israel, and Jordan when showing modern maps. The museum also calls “Palestinian” a cultural term when appropriate. A Change.org petition opposing the removal has gathered over 5,000 signatures. The petition claims the update erases Palestinian history from public memory. UKLIF said displays covering 2,000-300 BC now highlight the history of Canaan, Canaanites, and the kingdoms of Judah and Israel. In the Egypt galleries, “Palestinian descent” was replaced with “Canaanite descent.” The museum plans more changes as part of a long-term renovation and redisplay project over coming years.