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![\"Isha](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/caac2f33694124d5f74e1fcc5983ad225c1301eff734ddbe9cf10a45efe050db.jpg\")
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tIsha Khan, CEO of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights poses at the museum in Winnipeg on Wednesday, June 17, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS\/John Woods<\/p>\n
Jewish groups, including the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, B\u2019nai Brith Canada and the Jewish Heritage Centre of Western Canada, have raised concern that the exhibit could fuel antisemitism by not providing more historical context.<\/p>\n
A key issue has been not acknowledging the estimated 850,000 Jewish people who were forced to flee Arab countries in the years following the establishment of Israel. Groups have also criticized the museum for a lack of consultation and transparency during the exhibit\u2019s development.<\/p>\n
Museum CEO Isha Khan said she\u2019s heard the concerns but that the exhibit isn\u2019t trying to cover the whole history of the time period.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a modest-sized exhibit,\u201d Khan said in an interview. \u201cIt isn\u2019t a historical retrospective of 1948 and the founding of the state of Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n
Like other exhibits at the museum, it tells one community\u2019s story with the aim of creating broader awareness, said Khan.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s about Palestinian Canadians sharing their stories of forced displacement, intended to help us understand other stories.\u201d<\/p>\n
The exhibit, taking up about 12 metres of an existing gallery, is to tell stories through video testimonies, photographs, art, objects and writing. The Canadian Press was unable to see the exhibit, as it\u2019s still being installed.<\/p>\n
While some concerns about it are based on what the public has yet to see, others say the way the museum has developed the exhibit is already disqualifying.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis has been grossly mishandled,\u201d said Noah Shack, CEO of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs.<\/p>\n
He said there has been no meaningful consultation with the Jewish community or transparency of who the museum consulted. He said he\u2019s also concerned that the museum consulted with political activists, including one who has expressed deeply hostile views towards Zionism.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey have ensured that no matter what the content of the exhibit, this, by virtue of the way it has been handled by the leadership of the museum, is a divisive and incendiary program,\u201d Shack said.<\/p>\n
Bryan Schwartz, a law professor at the University of Manitoba, described the exhibit as a \u201cpartisan exercise in the demonization and delegitimization of Israel,\u201d in a report earlier this year.<\/p>\n
He called for the exhibit to be halted and said the process that created it \u201cexcluded and marginalized the mainstream Jewish community at every stage.\u201d<\/p>\n
Khan said the museum consulted widely but that any decisions about exhibits rests with the curatorial team.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re accountable to the public, and we listen and we reflect. But ultimately, those decisions are all made by us.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said she has also met with leaders of Jewish organizations across the country and shares their concerns about rising antisemitism.<\/p>\n
Khan said the museum has added more programming and exhibits about antisemitism in the past two years and has committed to telling stories about Jewish displacement in the future.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re actively working to combat antisemitism. We\u2019ve been unequivocal that that is our responsibility as a museum for human rights.\u201d<\/p>\n
The museum also conducted more reviews of the exhibit after calls to do so, including from Gail Asper, daughter of the late Izzy Asper, who conceived of the museum.<\/p>\n
Both external and internal reviews are done, and the exhibit didn\u2019t change.<\/p>\n
Museum spokeswoman Amanda Gaudes said it\u2019s still developing public programming and web content and will consider all feedback as part of that process.<\/p>\n
Shack said that despite talking with the museum, his concerns haven\u2019t been addressed and that he\u2019s looking for the federal government to step in.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re calling on the minister of Canadian Heritage to hold the leadership of the museum accountable and ensure that our national institutions are not weaponized against Canadians to serve a one-sided political agenda,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Minister Marc Miller was asked during question period Tuesday about the exhibit and concern it could support foreign agendas. He didn\u2019t indicate he would take any action.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is not the place of the minister or any member of the House to dictate museum policy and what is curated and what is not,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for Miller didn\u2019t respond to a request for further comment.<\/p>\n
Khan said the museum has done nothing wrong.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe stand behind our curatorial practice. It\u2019s independent, it\u2019s thorough and it\u2019s led by a team of individuals who have many, many years of experience in research,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is no question there are human rights stories of Palestinians that need to be shared. And in this national museum, we saw that there was a need for that content, and we can do it responsibly.\u201d<\/p>\n
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 19, 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WINNIPEG \u2013 The Canadian Museum for Human Rights says an exhibit about displaced Palestinians is to go ahead…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":746973,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194296],"tags":[49,48,22073],"class_list":["post-746972","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-winnipeg","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-winnipeg"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/746972","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=746972"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/746972\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/746973"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=746972"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=746972"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=746972"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}