The Director of the #BritishMuseum Hartwig Fischer has issued a statement that the British Museum "stands in solidarity with the Black community throughout the world." #BlackLivesMatter." That is to be applauded. blog.britishmuseum.org/a-message-from… via @britishmuseum 1/4 
However, the #BritishMuseum has never apologised for its shameful part in the British Army's brutal conquest and looting of rare Ethiopian artefacts at the Battle of Maqdala in 1868, in a clear case of officially sanctioned plunder and murder 2/4
Or its part in acquiring the looted #BeninBronzes, some of Africa’s greatest treasures, after a British punitive military expedition in 1897, and maintaining to this day that they were lawfully 'purchased' and will not be returned. 3/4
And when Fischer disingenuously claims that inside the #BritishMuseum "reclamation can find the seeds that can begin the process of an even deeper, more profound engagement", the profound irony is not lost as the museum still refuses to engage with requests for #restitution 4/4
@threadreaderapp unroll, please.
