The Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg will open the mixed-media exhibit in June, 2026.Shannon VanRaes/The Globe and Mail
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 One of them has withdrawn from future collaborations.
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Ms. Khan said she understands why the exhibit may cause dissent. However, it is part of the facility’s mandate to foster respectful debate through well-informed dialogue, she added.
“People have been advocating for more content that shares Palestinian stories in the museum,” she said in an interview Wednesday.
“And there is no question that, right now, in an increasingly polarized environment, people want to understand. People want to navigate issues of human rights particularly as they are impacting folks in the Middle East and around this situation.”
She said a team of researchers, academics, interpretive planners and designers have been working toward curating the exhibit – titled Palestine Uprooted: Nakba Past and Present – for at least four years.
Situated in a gallery on the fifth floor of the museum, the exhibit will combine different mediums and materials to recount the Nakba through videos, static art, the written word and interactive presentations.
“We’re not going to be able to tell every human-rights story,” Ms. Khan said. “But we’re glad that we’ve been working on this for a while. I think there’s no time like now to make sure that these stories are told.”
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James Kafieh, vice-president of the non-profit Palestinian Canadian Congress, lauded the museum for “memorializing a foremost part of history.”
“For decades, Palestinians have worked to have their history – our history – recognized with accuracy and dignity,” he said in an interview. “This exhibit signals that our story will no longer be sidelined. It affirms that Palestinian experiences, culture and memory belong in Canada’s public narrative.”
Rana Abdulla, an artist who has been asking for more Palestinian work to be displayed at the museum over the years, agreed, stating that the new showcase will help protect future generations.
“Our stories have been carried in our families, our art and our memories. Bringing them into a national museum ensures they cannot be erased,” she said.
But Amir Epstein, executive director of Tafsik Organization, a Canadian civil-rights group fighting antisemitism, is concerned the exhibit will be biased.
“If this is a display that will actually showcase the facts and properly explain what happened in the period around 1948, then I’m all for it,” he said.
“But for that to happen, it will need to include the perspective of many Jews like myself, who celebrate the Nakba. Because for us, it means we got to survive. We got to see Israel, and we got to see it become the gem of the Middle East after all that our people had been through.”
The Jewish Heritage Centre of Western Canada said it is ending its partnerships with the Winnipeg museum, such as those for the development of galleries about the Holocaust, because of the new exhibit.
“We are concerned that the museum may present an unbalanced view of history – devoid of scholarly best practices,” the Centre said in a statement.
However, in a joint statement, a coalition of three Jewish organizations – Independent Jewish Voices Canada, United Jewish Peoples Order and Jewish Faculty Network – added their support for the exhibit.
“As Jews committed to opposing all forms of racism and state violence, we believe that understanding the history of the Nakba is morally urgent. Right now, we are watching a live-streamed genocide,” wrote Iso Setel, spokesperson for Independent Jewish Voices, referring to Israel’s war with Hamas. (Israel has rejected allegations that it is committing genocide in Gaza.)
“Supporting this exhibition is an affirmation of the Jewish values of empathy, justice, and accountability,” added Sarena Sairan, executive director of the United Jewish Peoples Order. “Acknowledging the Nakba does not attack Jewish identity; it strengthens our moral integrity.”