Billed as London’s answer to the Met Gala, the British Museum hosted its first ever fundraising ball on Saturday night (October 18). The theme was tied to the museum’s current exhibition Ancient India: living traditions and guests – among them aristocrats, billionaires and celebrities – were instructed to dress according to the “lights and colours of India”, which in practice meant a lot of pink. The announcement of this theme proved controversial in itself, prompting calls for the repatriation of Indian artefacts, many of which were taken during the era of colonial rule.

But these criticisms were the tip of the iceberg. Outside the event, activists gathered to protest the museum’s ongoing sponsorship by energy giant British Petroleum and its complicity in Israel’s war crimes. “We think that Gaza is an example of how the ruling class will react to the climate crisis – by making whole regions entirely expendable,” a representative from Energy Embargo for Palestine, the group which organised the protest, tells Dazed. “This event felt like a very natural target that united both the climate movement and the Palestine movement.” The protesters unfurled banners with four key demands: “Drop BP, no more fossil fuel funding, rename the BP lecture theatre, and let workers decide.”

These demands were echoed inside the building, when MIA, during a performance of “Paper Planes”, reportedly said, “All I wanna do is take your money... that’s the museum talking about BP” and dedicated the song to the children of Gaza. Earlier in the evening, someone who was working as a waitress took to the stage during a speech by George Osborne and denounced the museum for its partnership with BP, which she said provided “cultural cover for a company that is causing climate collapse and actively enabling the genocide in Gaza.”

We caught up with this activist (despite her face being plastered all over the internet, she has so far managed to avoid having her name being reported and asked to use a pseudonym) to talk about why she disrupted the event, how it played out on the night and what happened next.

Why did you decide to disrupt the ball?

Alma*: If our institutions, systems and governments are making us complicit in an incredible level of violence then we have to resist at any junction we can, and the British Museum is a very clear nexus of lots of different forms of oppression. It recently hosted an Israeli Independence Day event, for example, and continues to receive sponsorship from BP. BP transports oil from from Azerbaijan to Israel, which is then converted into jet fuel to be used in the genocide. It has also been granted bidding for gas exploration licenses in occupied Palestinian waters.

How did the plan come together?

Alma: I was there with a catering company and had no idea about the Pink Ball when I got the shift. I just accepted it on the app and it wasn’t until later on I found out what it actually was. I had to smuggle a banner under my uniform, and then put it under my apron. Although I was inspired by the Energy Embargo for Palestine campaign, I was on my own inside, which was kind of terrifying.

At what point in the event did you disrupt the speech?

Alma: It was towards the beginning. There was a drinks reception in The Great Hall and we were going around giving the guest’s canopies. The speeches were a lot more delayed than I thought, so I was standing with a canopy tray for a lot longer than I’d expected. Then when they started the speeches I moved towards the front of the crowd and went up behind George Osbourne.

What was the energy in the room like when you started speaking?

Alma: It was very unreceptive. There were a lot of boos.

The audience was hostile but I also kind of blacked out; I’m not a public speaker at all and I was very nervous. It was crazy being in this space where they’re very clearly part of a system of violence

Did anyone clap or show support?

Alma: As I was escorted out, one of the guests said, ‘that was brave,’ and someone who worked at the British Museum – I assume – was very supportive. The audience was hostile but I also kind of blacked out; I’m not a public speaker at all and I was very nervous. It was crazy being in this space where they’re very clearly part of a system of violence. They don’t have to take the sponsorship from BP, they don’t have to host the Israeli Embassy. But then in the room, if you disrupt that in any way then you’re the crazy person. The incredible level of violence they’re part of is just so normalised.

I also imagine people who are very rich and powerful aren’t used to having to listen to the opinions of service workers.

Alma: Yeah, absolutely. They’re paying us £13 an hour to wait tables that cost £20,000 and that cheap labour has a cost, because it takes the real world to them. They can’t escape reality, even if they’re in these billionaire circles.

What did George Osborne’s reaction seem like to you at the time?

Alma: He was very condescending. He was just like, ‘OK, I think you said your piece now,” and then as I was going off stage, he said ‘Well, isn’t it so good to live in a democracy,’ or something, which is crazy because it doesn’t respond to the point at all. Yes, the British Museum is a public institution and nothing about the BP sponsorship is democratic. The way corporations work in this country is not democratic at all.

What happened after you were escorted out? Did you get in trouble with work?

Alma: Yes, I got fired, but I went into it knowing that would probably happen. They called me on Monday and said they had to fire me, not because of the action itself but because other workers were scared, because apparently they received wrong information and thought it was more serious than it was. That seems weird to me because I don’t think I’m responsible for how badly the British Museum or the catering company communicated what was happening to the staff, and it was pretty clear from the first moment I spoke that it wasn’t a dangerous security breach. I also think it’s weird because they do actually have the right to fire me, so I’m not sure why they’re coming up with excuses about why.

If you disrupt any form of normality, you’re seen as the hysterical one, but it’s actually insane to not be affected. We should all have some level of insanity, after watching a genocide for two years

What is your background as an activist?

Alma: I’ve been involved in Palestine activism for a while, and I was involved with the student movement when I was a student. Now I think trying to use any opportunity you have to create points of disruption as a worker is really important. There’s so many different ways that you can push workplaces, looking at the targets you have and where you are and trying to disrupt from within.

Why is that kind of disruption important? Is it that normal life shouldn’t be allowed to continue uninterrupted while the genocide continues?

Alma: Yeah, absolutely. Everybody should be going insane. If you disrupt any form of normality, you’re seen as the hysterical one, but it’s actually insane to not be affected. We should all have some level of insanity, after watching a genocide for two years.

What would you like to see from the British museum?

Alma: I’d like them to drop their sponsorship with BP, and also to face up to all the ways they are complicit. They are a colonial institution – how are they going to atone for that and not continue to uphold imperialism and oppression?

Thanks for your time. I think what you did was very brave.

Alma: I don’t think it was very brave, because I’m not very brave. I found it scary. And there are people on the ground in Palestine facing life sentences, torture and death; there are people in Britain facing terrorism charges and years of imprisonment. Everything that we do is a responsibility and it’s necessary, but it’s also the bare minimum.

*Name has been changed