The Los Angeles Holocaust Museum sparked controversy after deleting an Instagram post that stated the phrase “Never Again” should apply to all people, not just Jews, according to U.S. media reports.
The post, shared with the museum’s 24,200 Instagram followers, initially drew praise online, with some interpreting it as acknowledging Palestinian suffering amid Israel’s war in Gaza, which UN experts, researchers and human rights groups have described as “genocide.”
The museum later removed the post, replacing it with a Saturday statement claiming it was misunderstood. In a follow-up post on Sunday, the museum, the first Holocaust museum founded by survivors and the oldest in the U.S., clarified its position.
“We recently posted an item on social media that was part of a pre-planned social media campaign intended to promote inclusivity and community, which was easily open to misinterpretation by some as a political statement reflecting the ongoing situation in the Middle East. That was not our intent,” the post read.
The museum explained that it deleted the post to avoid further confusion, adding, “We will ensure that posts in the future are more thoughtfully designed and thoroughly vetted.”