Britannica removes educational map with ‘Israel erased and replaced by Palestine’

Critics argued the educational material effectively wiped Israel from existence while advancing a politically motivated narrative aimed at children.

The British legal group accused the renowned encyclopedia of promoting content that mirrored controversial activist messaging, prompting swift action from the US-based publishers.

Britannica subsequently amended the entry, with the organisation's response coming amid mounting pressure over what complainants described as historical distortion in material designed for young readers.

The map displayed on the children's educational platform showed the entire region stretching from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea labelled solely as "Palestine," with Israel entirely absent.

An accompanying caption stated: "The name Palestine refers to a region in the Middle East.

"The region lies between the Jordan River and the Medi­ter­ranean Sea."

UK Lawyers for Israel contended this depiction closely mirrored the phrase "from the river to the sea."

This slogan is frequently employed by pro-Palestinian protesters who oppose the state of Israel.

The legal group maintained that Britannica's geographical representation pushed a contemporary political agenda rather than presenting factual information to young audiences.

The organisation also demanded immediate corrections to the content.

In correspondence with Britannica's American publishers, UKLFI stated: "These descrip­tions effect­ively erase the exist­ence of Israel, which in fact lies between the River Jordan and the Medi­ter­ranean sea.

"By defin­ing Palestine as extend­ing unin­ter­rup­ted from the river to the sea, the entries closely mir­ror the lan­guage and geo­graphic fram­ing of con­tem­por­ary act­iv­ist slo­gans such as 'from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free'."

The organisation noted this phrase appears in Hamas's 2017 charter and has served as a rallying cry for Palestinian terrorist groups, including those responsible for the October 7 attacks.

Following The Telegraph's inquiry, Britannica removed the map and revised the entry to acknowledge that "Today the State of Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip are loc­ated within this area."

The concerns were originally brought to light in November 2024 by Shari Black, a London-based Jewish children's author with relatives in Israel, who contacted Britannica directly.

She told The Telegraph: "Accuracy is really important when you're writing books for children and I was surprised that such a respected website would publish historic inaccuracies like this."

Ms Black added: "It pushes a certain agenda, an erasure of Israel, a delegitimization of the country even though it was established by international consensus."

UKLFI also challenged broader claims in Britannica Kids that "Palestine" was a historical term stretching back millennia.

Historians have disputed the suggestion that Palestine predates Jewish regions from the time of Jesus's birth.

Roman Emperor Hadrian introduced the name only after 135 CE to suppress Jewish identity in the region previously called Judea.

Britannica's editor-in-chief Theodore Pappas said the company would examine the claims and adjust content if necessary.

“We will review these claims by the UK Law­yers for Israel and make adjust­ments to our con­tent, if needed,” Mr Pappas added.