Key facts
- Pro-Palestine activists occupied the British Museum's Great Hall.
- The occupation occurred during the opening of the Bayeux Tapestry exhibition.
- Billionaire Igor Tulchinsky's financial links to an illegal Israeli settlement were cited.
- Tulchinsky sponsored the exhibition and funded a community center in Efrat.
- Efrat is an illegal settlement in the occupied West Bank facing UK sanctions.
- Middle East Eye investigations prompted calls for government investigation into Tulchinsky's sponsorship.
Pro-Palestine activists occupied the British Museum's Great Hall on Saturday during the opening of its Bayeux Tapestry exhibition, protesting billionaire Igor Tulchinsky's financial ties to an illegal Israeli settlement. Middle East Eye investigations revealed Tulchinsky sponsored the exhibition and funded a community center in Efrat, an illegal settlement in the occupied West Bank that now faces UK sanctions.
Following these findings, Green Party leader Zack Polanski urged the British government to investigate Tulchinsky's sponsorship. Members of Energy Embargo for Palestine, who staged the occupation, presented four demands: an end to all ties with BP, the establishment of a staff-led body to oversee partnerships, the renaming of the BP lecture theatre, and a commitment to reject funding from fossil fuel and arms companies.