A Night at the Museum: navigating our complex histories with empathy

“Stories are the currency of life…giving purpose, meaning and inspiration all at the same time. Stories are definition. This is why stories and storytelling must be handled with care, sensitivity, and great caution because stories can help, heal and even hurt.”  (Niiagan Sinclair, Winipek, Visions of Canada from An Indigenous Centre, 2025 p. 191)

600 participants will soon congregate in Winnipeg for PFC’s largest ever conference under the theme of reciprocity. One of its highlights will be a reception at the iconic Canadian Museum for Human Rights, the world’s first national museum solely dedicated to the evolution, celebration, and future of human rights. The Museum provides a moving and impressive physical expression of Canadian values. Of course, human rights often invite intense contention and debate. These debates require reflection, dialogue and accountability. Since its opening in 2014, the Museum has faced several significant controversies regarding its exhibits, workplace culture, and curatorial independence. As widely reported, the Museum has been embroiled for several months in a controversy surrounding the temporary exhibit “Palestine Uprooted. Nakba Past and Present” – as experienced by Palestinian Canadians. (For Palestinians, the Nakba represents the catastrophe – the forcible displacement of about 750,000 Palestinians during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war).

PFC’s decision to host a reception at the Canadian Museum of Human Rights

A year ago, when PFC made arrangements to organize this reception, I was not aware that this exhibition was being planned. However, over the course of the winter, I realized that the proposed exhibition was creating some real strife in Winnipeg and across Canada. We quietly consulted our partners in Winnipeg. The consensus view was that holding a reception at such an important location for the city remained a valuable dimension to the conference experience – especially one based on the need for reciprocity and constant dialogue. The controversy, the curatorial choices and any redress remain to be fully addressed by the Museum executive and its Board, not by PFC taking a position for or against.  

The consensus view was that holding a reception at such an important location for the city remained a valuable dimension to the conference experience – especially one based on the need for reciprocity and constant dialogue.

Since that review and decision to maintain our reception at the Museum, the controversy has only grown louder. After visiting the exhibit himself, the Minister of Culture, Mark Miller, publicly stated that the Museum erred in its curation (while respecting the independence of the Museum); a widely respected member of the Museum Board resigned over the issue and the Asper foundation has now paused its support to the Museum. (In case that anyone needs reminding, no national Museum of Human Rights would exist without the personal vision and leadership of Israel and Gail Asper and the long standing and significant financial contributions by the Asper foundation, a founding member of PFC).

How our community has reacted and how we have responded

Although strong dissent always remains a defining feature within the Canadian Jewish community, legacy mainstream Jewish organizations expressed similar strong criticisms about the exhibit notably by not providing sufficient context to the 1948 war, to the ongoing conflict and to the October 2023 massacres perpetrated by Hamas. Several critics fear that the exhibit unwittingly contributes to an environment where Jewish Canadians are singled out and (re)traumatized and where the legitimacy of the existence of Israel is being questioned. (Since the 1947 UN resolution, Canada has remained steadfast in its support for Israel existence and for a negotiated two state solution). Given these fears and this controversy, some Jewish participants (both working with Jewish and non-Jewish foundations) are now considering not attending the PFC reception at the Museum. 

This is troubling on many levels. I have a personal responsibility to create a learning and collaborative environment that is inclusive, supports pluralism and rigorous debate, and remains safe for everyone attending. In 2022, I acted quickly to publicly denounce Islamophobic verbal attacks against PFC attendees just blocks from the conference in Montreal and to ensure they received the support they needed. In 2024, although no incidents occurred, PFC was prepared to respond while emotions remained raw on all sides about the Israeli-Palestinian armed conflict. I was encouraged that PFC’s 2024 dialogue initiative led to practical tools and new collaboration. The dialogue allowed for difficult but also rich and nuanced conversations where active listening was integral. Within Canadian philanthropy, this initiative re-energized shared values-based pluralist common grounds (as an alternative to creating a “neutral” fragile middle ground that can easily slide into false moral equivalencies and silence). One legacy of these conversations was building personal relationships and new collaborations – including the emergence of the Democracy Funders Network (that will be meeting on the margins of the Winnipeg conference).

I have a personal responsibility to create a learning and collaborative environment that is inclusive, supports pluralism and rigorous debate, and remains safe for everyone attending.

What we must all do in the spirit of reflection, dialogue, and reciprocity

It is in this spirit of dialogue that I invite all of us to acknowledge our very real differences but not to let our differences divide us. It should be clear to every conference attendee that our Museum reception does not imply endorsement or criticism of its curating choices. The stories of Palestinian Canadians are undoubtedly Canadian stories that deserve space in the Museum. I will reserve personal judgement if the Museum succeeds in telling them well and with necessary care to historical accuracy. I intend to see the Nakba exhibition both with empathy and through critical eyes. I encourage you to do the same but also to experience as many of its other galleries as possible – amongst them, there is a moving exhibit about Canada’s LGBT Purge. You may find your story or discover some about your fellow citizens that you knew little about.

Whenever I visit the Museum, I always try to visit its Israel Asper Tower of Hope that symbolizes the journey from darkness to light. Of course, there is an amazing view of Winnipeg from the tower, but it is also the perfect place to experience the power and presence of the Prairies sky. This sky – and its frequent harsh weather that it can unfold – tells me that there is room for everyone’s journey towards equality and justice to be told but to do so with utmost care to historical facts, sensitivity and caution.