We Stand with the Canadian Museum for Human Rights and Its Curatorial Independence

Prime Minister Carney, Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture Marc Miller, and CMHR board chair Benjie Nycum

The Canadian Museum for Human Rights recently opened Palestine Uprooted: Nakba Past and Present, an exhibition examining Palestinian history, culture, displacement and lived experience. The exhibition offers Canadians an important opportunity to learn about the Nakba and its continuing impact on Palestinians in Canada and around the world.

Since its opening, the museum and its leadership have faced organized campaigns demanding political intervention, public condemnation and institutional consequences. Elected officials, including Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture Marc Miller, have also commented on the exhibition’s content, which has raised serious concerns about political pressure on a publicly funded museum and the independence of its curators, researchers, advisors, and staff.

People have every right to debate or criticize an exhibition. But politicians and pressure groups should not decide which histories Canadians are permitted to encounter or pressure museums to alter, discredit or distance themselves from professionally curated work.

This issue extends beyond one exhibition. Public museums must be able to present difficult and contested histories honestly, thoughtfully and according to evidence and professional standards.

To: Prime Minister Carney, Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture Marc Miller, and CMHR board chair Benjie Nycum
From: [Your Name]

We, the undersigned Canadians, support the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, its leadership, and the curatorial independence that is essential to all public museums.

The exhibition Palestine Uprooted: Nakba Past and Present offers Canadians an important opportunity to learn about Palestinian history, displacement, and lived experience. Public museums must be able to present difficult and contested histories thoughtfully and without political interference.

Criticism and public debate are legitimate. However, politicians and organized pressure groups should not determine which histories Canadians are permitted to encounter or pressure museums into altering, discrediting or distancing themselves from professionally curated exhibitions.

The principles at stake extend beyond this exhibition. Curatorial independence protects the ability of museums, researchers, advisers and cultural workers to serve the public interest according to evidence, scholarship and professional standards.

We call on Prime Minister Carney, Minister Miller, Board chair Benjie Nycum, and community leaders to respect the independence of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. We also encourage the museum to remain steadfast in its commitment to independent, evidence-based curation.