Elder gets results! Imperial War Museum removes (one) offensive item

Last week I reported about how the Imperial War Museum website referred to the Jewish Brigade as "terrorists."

One person who emailed them about this received this reply:

Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention. We were dismayed to learn of the errors in the online record for the item in our collection and offer you our most sincere apologies:

http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205196547

We fully accept that the information relating to this item was factually incorrect and in no way met the standards to which we aspire. As a consequence, we have removed the record from our website whilst we correct the errors. Rest assured that we are looking at related areas to ensure that there are no similar issues.

I do hope that this addresses your concerns.

Yours sincerely,

Bryn Hammond
Head of the Department of Collections & Curatorial Development
IWM
Lambeth Road
London SE1 6HZ

Algemeiner reports:

The Imperial War Museum (IWM) in the U.K. removed an item from its website this week, following complaints from a Jewish human rights group about its offensive nature.

The description of a photo featuring men from the Jewish Brigade’s 1st Battalion from WWII opened with the words “terrorist activities.” The Jewish Brigade was defined as having been formed in September 1944 and fought in Italy under the British Eighth Army — with this additional assertion: “Many of its members went on to join the Haganah and other illegal formations.”

The poster, part of the museum’s collection on World War II, is currently inaccessible on the website. The IWM did not respond to The Algemeiner‘s emails about its removal.

But it was removed after Simon Wiesenthal Center Director for International Relations Shimon Sameuls wrote a letter to IWM Director-General Diane Lees on Monday urging her to “to withdraw this offensive poster, take disciplinary measures against the apparent antisemite responsible and make a public apology to the Jewish community.”

“The Jewish Brigade under British command were heroes who combated Fascist terrorists in Italy,” he argued. “They were eye witnesses to the annihilation of their people as they joined the liberators of the camps…”

Samuels said calling the Jewish Brigade soldiers “terrorists” is “the greatest Holocaust revisionism imagination.” He added that the offensive description tarnished the museum and “betrays the cause of British integrity.”

Jewish blogger Elder of Ziyon called the description “inexcusable” and “outrageous.” The blogger berated the IWM for “calling [the soldiers] future terrorists” while failing to give any details about “how the Brigade was formed, how the soldiers trained and how they fought.”

Elder of Ziyon also criticized the IWM for referring to the Haganah — an underground military organization in Israel from 1920 to 1948 — as an “illegal” organization. “It wasn’t,” he asserted. “At times it cooperated with the British.”

However, there are still plenty of problematic materials there, such as referring to the Jewish Agency as being behind a "campaign of violence." See the comments on my previous article for other examples.