Mick Hartley

More on that British Museum cancellation of their Jewish history event. Steerpike in the Spectator:

Furious MPs have hit out at George Osborne after the British Museum postponed a lecture on the kingdoms of ancient Israel and Judah. The talk was scheduled to go ahead today as part of Jewish Culture Month, but was pulled amid ‘security concerns’ over possible ‘disruption’.

Last night, the museum said a ‘significant number’ of those registered for the event were plotting to ‘deliberately disrupt’ it. The institution insisted that postponing the lecture was necessary to ‘protect the event – not to diminish it’.

MPs and Jewish community leaders, however, slammed the move as caving to extremists. Their ire was aimed at Osborne, the museum’s chair, who defended the decision on social media. Reform’s Suella Braverman said: ‘Wrong call. You’ve given in to the bullies, to the mob and to the extremists. More weakness from the establishment elites- just like the Met Commissioner, the universities and the BBC.’

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said: ‘Jewish Culture Month is meant to promote awareness of and celebrate Jewish culture in the UK. This decision achieves precisely the opposite.’ Richard Ferrer, Editor of the Jewish News, asked the former chancellor: ‘The solution to intimidation is to reward it?’ The American historian Deborah Lipstadt chimed in: “The protestors won and they did not even have to show up.”

The museum has said the talk will be moved 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’. What a sorry state of affairs when such stringent measures are deemed necessary for a mere lecture on ancient history.

But Mr S is hardly surprised that ancient Israel is of particular concern to Palestine extremists. They wouldn’t want their ahistorical mantras about ‘white settler colonialism’ being challenged by historical facts. It might just disturb their made-up narratives…

A key point there. The cries of “settler colonialism” don’t somehow chime with learned discussions of the ancient history of Israel and Judah.

And Stephen Pollard:

It was the matter-of-fact blandness of the statement that hit hardest. ‘We apologise for any inconvenience. With best wishes, The British Museum Ticketing team.’

Oh well, just a bit of Jew hunting, sorry if it’s a bother, best wishes and all that….

But while the British Museum may be sincere in its statement, ‘security concerns’ has become the contemporary equivalent of ‘No Jews admitted here’ – the phrase that Jews have had to get used to hearing as the supposed reason why an event has been cancelled.

Increasingly, events involving or attracting Jews are being cancelled – and that’s when they have managed to find a venue willing to host them in the first place.

In January 2025, a performance by Jewish-American Chasidic singer Benny Friedman was cancelled by the Clapham Grand, citing ‘security concerns.’ The producer said they had struggled to find any venue willing to even consider hosting him. Last year the Jewish folk/klezmer band Oi Va Voi’s appearance at Strange Brew in Bristol was cancelled after the venue decided that hosting Jewish performers was a security risk.

At last year’s Edinburgh Fringe, Jewish comedians Rachel Creeger and Philip Simon had their bookings cancelled after venue staff expressed their fears about safety when hosting Jewish acts.

A planned exhibition at the Russell-Cotes Museum in Bournemouth about Jewish life in the town, due to run from last September until this March was postponed over ‘security concerns’.

In 2024 a talk by Douglas Murray at the Apollo Theatre in London was cancelled over ‘security concerns’. This is a far from complete list.

Whatever the actual motivations behind such decisions, they all have the same effect – handing anti-Semites a veto over the staging of events with or for Jews….

One of our leading cultural intuitions has sent out a terrible message. Do you worst, it is saying to the anti-Semites, and we will cave. For shame.