May 6, 2026, London, England, United Kingdom: General view of the British Museum. Photo: ZUMA Press Wire via Reuters Connect

The British Museum has rescheduled a Jewish Culture Month event initially postponed due to concerns that the gathering would be disrupted by protesters.

A lecture on the ancient history of Israel and Judah was originally scheduled to take place on Thursday at the museum’s BP Lecture Theatre, but the museum canceled the event less than 24 hours before it was set to begin.

Ticketholders were informed that the event was being postponed due to “security concerns,” and the museum then announced on Thursday that a new date has been confirmed for the lecture, which will now take place “early next month.” The talk will be given by Dr Paul Collins, the keeper of the museum’s Middle East department, who will examine the history of the ancient kingdoms of Israel and Judah through artifacts held by the museum.

“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,” the museum said in a statement. “A respectful and secure environment for our visitors, speakers, and colleagues remain 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.”

“Exploring and understanding history lies at the heart of the British Museum’s mission,” the museum added. “We are proud to work with faith, community, and national organizations across a wide range of subjects and perspectives, and this event is no exception.”

The lecture was organized as part of the United Kingdom’s first ever Jewish Culture Month, which runs from May 16-June 16.

In a statement on Wednesday, the British Museum said that in days leading up to Thursday’s event, they were told a “significant proportion” of the registered attenders were “individuals intending to deliberately disrupt the event, preventing others from participating in good faith and undermining the purpose of the program.”

“The British Museum fully recognizes the importance of lawful protest and freedom of expression in a democratic society. Equally, we have a responsibility to ensure that events hosted within the museum can proceed safely, securely, and without intimidation for speakers, staff, and visitors alike,” the institution explained. It then stated that after discussing the matter with organizers and security partners, a “joint decision” was made 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 program itself.”

“This decision was made to protect the event — not to diminish it,” the museum noted. It also said it will continue to support Jewish Culture Month “and remain committed to providing a space where history, culture, and scholarship can be explored openly, respectfully, and without disruption.”

Jewish Culture Month is a project of the Board of Deputies of British Jews. The organization said on Thursday it welcomed the British Museum’s update about a new date for the lecture. When the event was initially postponed by the museum, the Jewish group said it was “highly regrettable that individuals had sought to deliberately disrupt a Jewish culture month event celebrating Jewish cultural heritage.”

“We will not allow the actions of extremists to prevent the British public from enjoying these events,” the group added.

The British Museum did not publicly name who was planning to disrupt the lecture, but Jewish News reported that members of Jewish Artists for Palestine were among those registered to attend the event. After the museum canceled the gathering, Jewish Artists for Palestine released a statement in which members asked, “What is the purpose of holding a talk on such a controversial topic if not to invite questioning and debate?”

“That the British Museum deems such a debate a security concern points to the event as a pro-Zionist propaganda exercise,” the anti-Israel group claimed. “This was never meant to be a legitimate opportunity to engage the public in their work.” The activists called on the museum to “refuse to participate in the weaponization of archaeology practiced by the Israeli state” and to drop the British oil and gas giant BP as a sponsor of the museum because of the company’s alleged “complicity in genocide and ecocide.”

The museum’s initial decision to postpone the lecture was criticized by many observers in the UK, including Shadow Attorney General Lord Wolfson.

“The British Museum has canceled a Jewish Culture Month event on Ancient Israel and Judah due to ‘security concerns.’ If publicly-funded institutions cannot host such events without folding to pressure, serious questions arise about that funding,” he said. “I’ve no doubt that everyone has acted in good faith. But this is the wrong decision, at the wrong time, and sends precisely the wrong message,” he added.

The Jewish Leadership Council said “extremists and agitators who cannot see past their hatred should not be allowed to force British Jews to live smaller lives in this country, nor prevent us from sharing our culture and heritage with the wider British public. We fully support the efforts by the British Museum and Board of Deputies to ensure this important event can be rearranged.”

“The Prime Minister recently talked about how Jewish people are being bullied out of the arts: now we’re seeing it at the country’s leading museum,” said the British charity Campaign Against Antisemitism. “We are still waiting for some brave institution to stand up and say that the Jew-hating mob will not win in their space. One wonders if there are any still left in modern Britain.”