Encyclopaedia Britannica erases 'Israel' from children’s history lessons
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- Encyclopaedia Britannica Kids faced criticism for a map showing the entire region between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea as Palestine, omitting 'Israel'.
- UK Lawyers for 'Israel' (UKLFI) accused the material of echoing the “from the river to the sea” slogan, which they say denies 'Israel’s' existence.
Encyclopaedia Britannica is under scrutiny after critics accused its children’s platform, Britannica Kids, of omitting 'Israel' from educational materials and replacing it with Palestine.
The issue centers on a map of the region that depicts the area between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea entirely as Palestine, with no distinction for the Israeli Occupation borders.
Legal Action and Accusations of Politicization
Supporters of 'Israel' have claimed that Encyclopaedia Britannica replaced the name “Israel” with “Palestine” on a map of the region published in children’s educational materials. This prompted the legal advocacy group UK Lawyers for 'Israel' (UKLFI) to take formal action, contacting the U.S. publishers of Britannica and demanding an urgent review of what they described as “historically inaccurate content carrying contemporary political implications.”
“From the River to the Sea”
UKLFI’s main objections focused on a map in Britannica Kids that labeled a landmass as “Palestine,” covering the area corresponding to 'Israel’s' borders. The map caption stated in the present tense: “The name Palestine refers to a region in the Middle East. The region lies between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.”
UKLFI argued that this definition promotes the politically slogan “from the river to the sea,” which they say implicitly calls for the elimination of 'Israel'.
Formal Letter: “A Practical Erasure”
In its official letter to Encyclopaedia Britannica, UKLFI accused the encyclopaedia of adopting a provocative political and geographic definition. “These descriptions effectively erase Israel, which in fact lies between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea,” the group wrote.
The letter added that defining Palestine as stretching uninterrupted from the river to the sea “closely mirrors the language and framing of contemporary political slogans such as ‘from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.’”
Britannica Responds
Following inquiries from the press, Encyclopaedia Britannica updated the map and amended the definition of Palestine to include the line: “Today the State of Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip are located within this area.”
Theodore Pappas, Executive Editor of Encyclopaedia Britannica, said: “For over 250 years, Britannica has been recognized for delivering unbiased, accurate, and rigorously fact-checked content. We will review these claims by UKLFI and make adjustments to our content, if needed.”
