Statement of Support for the Canadian Museum of Human Rights

March 11, 2026 

We write this statement in response to the commentary from March 9, 2026 published in the National Post by Terry Newman, “Consultants for human rights museum's 'Nakba' exhibit are hardened anti-Israel activists.” 

We write as Canadian Jewish organizations – including Independent Jewish Voices Canada, United Jewish People’s Order Canada, and the Jewish Faculty Network – which have expressed strong support for the Canadian Museum for Human Rights (the Museum) and its forthcoming exhibition Palestine Uprooted: Nakba Past and Present. We speak for a growing number of Jewish people in Canada and internationally who are seeking truth and justice for Palestinians. 

We commend the Museum for presenting a historically grounded, human rights–focused exhibition of the events of 1948 and their ongoing consequences for Palestinians. As the first exhibition on the Nakba at a government-funded museum in Canada, we see this as a meaningful and overdue step toward acknowledging a documented history of mass displacement and cultural destruction. We know that rigorous scholarship has long examined these events, and that open public engagement and education about this history is essential for accountability, acknowledgment of our shared humanity, and lasting justice. These values form part of the Museum’s intent in staging the exhibition. 

We have followed the discussions of the Museum’s Palestinian Content Advisory Network (PCAN). We are encouraged by their ongoing commitment to universal human rights and thoughtful conversations about the Palestine Uprooted: Nakba Past and Present exhibition and its impacts on the public, including on the Palestinian Canadian community. We are confident that PCAN is made up of credible, experienced, and recognized experts with extensive knowledge of these issues. This is demonstrated by their collective lived experiences and advocacy, artistic and creative productions, and peer-reviewed research and publications. In concert with the collective efforts of our respective organizations, we agree that this exhibition is an essential part of ongoing Canadian conversations about Palestine, Israel, and Canada’s role in the region, historically and today. 

We speak as members of Jewish communities in Canada, deeply committed to opposing antisemitism locally, nationally and internationally. We have experienced and witnessed the harms and traumas of violent hate and antisemitism. We know that to oppose antisemitism effectively, we need to oppose racism and state violence in all forms, and we have learned these lessons over generations. We stand firmly in the Jewish tradition of social justice. 

Drawing from these convictions, we continue to welcome the Museum’s Palestine Uprooted: Nakba Past and Present exhibition as rooted in ethical responsibility and allegiance to historical and contemporary realities. We urge the public not to allow false accusations or mischaracterizations of antisemitism to obscure the values motivating this support. Criticism of state policies and engagement with historical events is not, in itself, antisemitic. Protecting 

Space for honest dialogue is consistent with Jewish ethical traditions and with broader commitments to human rights and justice. 

At its core, we wish for principled discussion, historical accuracy, and moral clarity, rather than fear-based narratives that shut down conversation. We stand firmly with the decision made by the Museum to develop and present the exhibition Palestine Uprooted: Nakba Past and Present that will open on June 26, 2026. We also commend the Museum’s decision to seek expert advice, as they have with all their exhibitions, and lend our support to this process that will ultimately lead to the opening of the exhibition in the near future. 

Signed, 

Independent Jewish Voices (IJV) 

Jewish Faculty Network (JFN) 

United Jewish People’s Order (UJPO) Canada