Nakba exhibit at Canadian Museum for Human Rights to draw on Palestinian oral histories
2025/11/21 2 Comments
I don’t envy the curators preparing the exhibition and having to navigate the politics (see reaction from some Jewish organizations below). That being said, it is a legitimate exhibition for the museum and the oral story approach is likely the most appropriate:
The Canadian Museum for Human Rights is launching a new exhibit examining the Nakba, a period beginning in 1948 when hundreds of thousands of Palestinian Arabs were displaced in the war over Israel’s creation.
Drawing on the oral histories of the Palestinian diaspora in Canada, the mixed-media display will open in June. It is set to remain a permanent part of the Winnipeg-based museum’s standing galleries for at least two years, chief executive officer Isha Khan told The Globe and Mail.
After years of protests and demonstrations outside the national museum demanding such an exhibit, advocates from several Jewish and Palestinian groups expressed elation about what they believe is a long overdue step toward public education. But at least two Canadian Jewish groups condemned the planned exhibit, stating that it undermines the legitimacy of Israeli statehood. One of them has withdrawn from future collaborations….
Source: Nakba exhibit at Canadian Museum for Human Rights to draw on Palestinian oral histories
Reaction from some Jewish organizations:
…The JHCWC also expressed concern the exhibit could overlook non-Jewish minorities who are Israeli citizen, including Muslim and Christian Arabs, Druze, Circassians and Samaritans – people who hold positions in the judiciary, parliament, health care and the military, and that their equal rights under Israeli law complicate common interpretations of the Nakba.
The centre notes previous exhibitions — including the Holocaust gallery — were organized with extensive consultation.
“I think what you’re seeing with the Jewish Heritage Centre is the manifestation of a fundamental breach of trust by the Canadian Museum for Human Rights,” says David Asper. “The factual, historical context of events surrounding the ‘Nakba’ are not just one story. In my father’s founding vision of the purpose of the Museum he never had a problem with the telling of the whole story, which includes the displacement and expulsion of over 800,000 Jews who were living in Arab countries and, perhaps most importantly, that a lot of what happened was triggered by the fact that many Arab countries declared war and tried to conquer and eliminate Israel in 1948.”…
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Multicultural Meanderings 
One person’s triumph is another person’s tragedy. I haven’t seen the exhibition in question yet (obviously, it hasn’t opened). I do not automatically recoil at the word nakba. I do recoil at the idea that because of the Nakba, the entire territory known as Israel and TransJordan in 1948 should become the land of Palestine. I hope that the Museum is good at navigating these political waters.
Agree. That’s why I expressed sympathy for the curators. I suspect that they are well aware of the challenges which the NP article certainly highlights but beyond the personal stories, the interpretative displays discussion of the context will be particularly challenging.