Open University drops ‘ancient Palestine’ reference after complaint

The Open University has agreed to stop using the term “ancient Palestine” in its teaching materials after a student raised concerns that the wording was historically inaccurate and risked erasing Jewish history.

The change follows a complaint backed by UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI), which warned the university that describing the Virgin Mary as being born in “ancient Palestine” could create a hostile learning environment for Jewish and Israeli students. The development was first reported by The Telegraph.

The wording appeared in Discovering the Arts and Humanities, an entry-level Open University module that introduces students to myths, religion and cultural history. Course materials referred to Mary’s birthplace as “ancient Palestine”, described Aramaic as “a language widely spoken in ancient Palestine”, and included a map labelled “Map of ancient Palestine”.

UKLFI argued that the terminology was anachronistic and politically loaded, particularly given the current climate following the Hamas-led attacks on Israel on 7 October, 2023. The group said the term “Palestine” was not applied to the region of Judea, Samaria and Galilee until after the Bar Kokhba revolt, when the Roman emperor Hadrian renamed the province “Syria Palaestina” around 135 CE – more than a century after Mary’s lifetime.

Mary is widely believed to have been born in the late first century BCE in Galilee, a predominantly Jewish region under Roman rule, with most historical accounts identifying Nazareth as her home village.

In a letter to UKLFI, the Open University confirmed it would no longer use the term in future materials and would add context to existing content. The university acknowledged that the wording had become “problematic in a way that, perhaps, it was not when the materials were written in 2018.”

Adrienne Scullion, head of the faculty of arts and social sciences, said the term had been drawn from existing academic scholarship and was not intended as a political statement. However, she added: “Colleagues affirm that they do not want the use of the term to imply or be read as a comment on the conflict between Israel and Palestine.”

Caroline Turner, director of UKLFI, welcomed the decision. “We welcome the Open University’s decision to stop using the term ‘ancient Palestine’ in its future teaching materials,” she said. “Historical accuracy matters, particularly in a highly sensitive and politicised context where terminology is often misused to erase Jewish history and identity.

“Universities have a responsibility to ensure that their teaching is rigorous, neutral and inclusive, and that it does not create a hostile environment for Jewish or Israeli students.”

The issue was raised by Open University student Tommy Merchan, who said the wording troubled him as a Jewish student.

“The reason I decided to raise it is because I’m Jewish and because of the impact that these types of inaccuracies could potentially have on Jews in Britain,” he said. “It just feeds into the false narrative that Israel – the only Jewish state – doesn’t have a right to exist.

“For me, this was an example, perhaps unintentionally on the OU’s part, of the erosion of Jewish history. I was also shocked that a well-known institution such as the OU would put on a history degree course and use inaccurate information when the course subject is so reliant on accurate historical facts.”

The Open University said it regularly reviews its teaching content and stressed that the module “does not seek to provide commentary or judgements on contemporary political events”.

The decision comes amid wider scrutiny of historical terminology in public institutions. Liverpool’s World Museum has also confirmed it is reviewing exhibition labels in its ancient Egypt gallery after UKLFI raised concerns about references to “Palestine” in descriptions of events dating back thousands of years.

UKLFI has urged museums and universities to use historically accurate and neutral terms such as “Canaan” or “the Levant” when referring to the region in ancient contexts, warning that modern political language can distort history and marginalise Jewish identity.