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The Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) alerted the Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East on Monday to the apparent defacement of an exhibit label, after a visitor discovered that the word “Israel” appeared to have been scratched over.
The exhibit label identifies the Iron Age II village house as standing “in what is now the country of Israel.” Every other word remains intact, with the apparent damage limited to “Israel.”
In a letter to Professor Peter Der Manuelian, the museum director, CAM CEO Sacha Roytman wrote that if intentional, the damage amounted to “targeted erasure of the name of the Jewish state from a museum display.” He added that such defacement formed part of a “recognized and recurring pattern” that CAM has been tracking worldwide.
Roytman further noted, “Encountering it inside a Harvard museum dedicated to the history and cultures of the ancient Near East, a region in which the history of Israel and the Jewish people is central, is deeply concerning.”
According to the letter, the visitor who reported the incident found it “offensive and distressing.”
Roytman asked the museum to determine whether the damage was deliberate, review available security footage, replace the label without delay, and guard against future vandalism in its galleries.
Professor Der Manuelian replied promptly, confirming an investigation was already underway in coordination with Harvard Museums of Science and Culture.
He said a replacement label had already been ordered and would be installed as soon as it arrived. He added that enhanced opening and closing procedures were being implemented to limit gallery access to business hours and establish daily monitoring.
Take Action
CAM has launched Report It, a secure app to report antisemitic incidents anonymously and in real time. Don’t stay silent. Download it today on the Apple App Store or Google Play. See it. Report it. Stop it.
