Encyclopedia Britannica Removes Kids Map Labeling Israel as “Palestine”

The Encyclopedia Britannica has removed a map from its Britannica Kids website after criticism that it labeled the territory of Israel as “Palestine,” following a media inquiry by The Telegraph and a formal complaint by a British pro-Israel legal group.

The map, which appeared in Britannica’s children’s edition, marked the entire area between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea as “Palestine,” with no reference to the State of Israel. A caption accompanying the map stated: “The name Palestine refers to a region in the Middle East. The region lies between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.”

The depiction sparked backlash from UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI), which argued that the presentation erased Israel’s existence and reflected a contemporary political agenda rather than neutral educational content. The group said the framing closely echoed the slogan “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” a phrase widely used by pro-Palestinian activists and militant groups.

UKLFI said the slogan is viewed by many as a call to deny Israel’s right to exist and noted that it appears in the 2017 charter of Hamas. In a letter to Britannica’s U.S.-based publishers, the group wrote that the children’s entries “effectively erase the existence of Israel,” which lies between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.

According to the organization, the issue was not limited to a single image. UKLFI objected to additional descriptions in Britannica Kids that defined “Palestine” as extending from the Jordan River to the Israel–Lebanon border, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Negev, arguing that such descriptions “erase Israel in practice” and present a modern political position under the guise of historical fact.

Following an inquiry by The Telegraph, Britannica removed the disputed map from its website. The encyclopedia also updated its definition of “Palestine” in the children’s edition to include the sentence: “Today the State of Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip are located within this area.”

The concerns were first raised months earlier by Shari Black, a London-based Jewish children’s book writer and editor, who contacted Britannica in November 2024. Black said she received a general response indicating the issue would be reviewed but was not informed of any concrete changes at the time.

“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,” Black told The Telegraph. She said the material advanced “an erasure of Israel” and a broader effort to delegitimize the country.

Additional reporting cited by The Telegraph questioned Britannica Kids’ historical framing of the term “Palestine.” Historians quoted in the report said the name was introduced by the Roman Emperor Hadrian after the Bar Kokhba revolt in 135 CE, as part of an effort to suppress Jewish identity in the region then known as Judea, and argued that applying the term retroactively creates a misleading sense of historical continuity.

Britannica editor-in-chief Theodore Pappas said the company would examine the complaints raised by UKLFI. “We will review these claims by the UK Lawyers for Israel and make adjustments to our content, if needed,” Pappas said.

UKLFI has called on Britannica to conduct a broader review of its children’s educational materials dealing with Israel and the region. It remains unclear whether additional changes beyond the removed map and the updated definition will be made.