British Museum criticised for delaying Jewish event over protest fears

The British Museum has been criticised for postponing a talk on Jewish culture because of fears of potential protests.

The museum, located in London, said it delayed the event after learning a "significant proportion" of attendees were planning to disrupt it.

The lecture, on ancient Israel and Judah, scheduled for Thursday afternoon as part of Jewish Culture Month, will now take place in early June.

But Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch was among the critics of the decision and has urged Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to intervene so it could go ahead as planned.

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Badenoch said: "Jewish Culture Month is meant to promote awareness of and celebrate Jewish culture in the UK. This decision achieves precisely the opposite.

"Jewish acts and actors are now being routinely cancelled from events across the UK.

"As with the marches and protests going past synagogues and knocking on doors intimidating Jews, the end result is an erasure of Jews and Jewish culture from Britain's public space.

"The Government says it wants to combat antisemitism, it needs to tell publicly funded institutions like the British Museum to do what's necessary to put this event on.

"The Conservatives will always make sure that Britain feels a safe place for Jews."

BBC presenter and historian Simon Schama said on X it was "absolutely the wrong decision", sending a "terrible message".

Mr Schama's colleague and author John Simpson described the decision as "pathetic".

The British Museum had said earlier in a statement that, following talks with organisers and security partners, a "joint decision was taken to postpone the event to a later date when it can take place in an environment that properly safeguards both the audience experience and the integrity of the programme itself".

It added that the decision was taken to "protect the event - not to diminish it".

Later on Thursday, the museum continued: "Alongside our partners at Jewish Culture Month, we are pleased that the rescheduled lecture, The Ancient History of Israel and Judah, will take place early next month.

"Booking details will be published on our website shortly. We expect strong demand and will also offer a livestream to make the event accessible to a wider audience.

"A respectful and secure environment for our visitors, speakers and colleagues remains our highest priority, and we are working closely with all relevant teams to ensure robust arrangements are in place, as would be expected for an event of this nature."

The Board of Deputies of British Jews said in a statement on X: "It is highly regrettable that individuals have sought to deliberately disrupt a Jewish Culture Month event celebrating Jewish cultural heritage at the British Museum.

"Jewish Culture Month has seen many of Britain's great cultural institutions partner with us in celebration of British Jewish culture, community and creativity, and we will not allow the actions of extremists to prevent the British public from enjoying these events.

"We will be working with our partners at the British Museum to reschedule this event as soon as possible."

(c) Sky News 2026: British Museum criticised for delaying Jewish event over protest fears