Multiple trustees at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights raised concerns beginning last fall that a new exhibit on the Palestinian Nakba could damage the institution’s reputation and hurt fundraising efforts.
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exhibit → raise → efforts
But the board members were rebuffed by management, who told them content curation is not their responsibility, according to internal meeting minutes.
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curation → rebuff → minutes
The minutes, obtained by The Globe and Mail, include around 200 pages of records from November, 2025, to this past May.
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minutes → obtain → May
Coupled with interviews conducted separately with one former and four current trustees, they demonstrate that the high-profile museum’s 11-member board was divided over the exhibit from its announcement last year until its launch in late June.
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board → couple → June
Some board members were particularly concerned about the Nakba display linking historic events of the 1940s to the present-day war between Israel and Hamas.
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members → concern → Israel
Records show that the apprehension was bolstered by multiple major donors pausing their funding campaigns ahead of the exhibit’s opening.
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donors → show → opening
This had caused the Winnipeg-based museum to fall short of its financial targets.
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museum → cause → targets
The small exhibit, which occupies two walls on the fifth floor of the seven-level museum, has been denounced by many Jewish groups as an attack on Israeli statehood.
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which → occupy → statehood
One trustee has resigned in protest, and the issue has led to wider public blowback, especially in Ottawa, where it has become a frequent topic of debate.
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it → resign → debate
Heritage Minister Marc Miller, meanwhile, has criticized the display’s “regrettable” language about the Israel-Hamas conflict.
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Miller → criticize → conflict
Several trustees at the museum, a Crown corporation, had proposed delaying the display to allow more time to address what they perceived as the “reputational risk” associated with it.
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they → propose → it
They wanted to invite public consultation on the matter, the minutes confirm.
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minutes → want → matter
They also wanted the museum to create a policy for what the minutes referred to as “quality control” for such exhibits.
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minutes → want → exhibits
“There was concern from some Trustees that not allowing the public to ask questions was a missed opportunity on the part of the Museum, particularly as it related to the new exhibit, Palestine Uprooted: Nakba Past and Present,” stated a board package from May recapping previous meeting minutes.
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package → be → minutes
At least five formal motions, ranging from a call for postponement to a call for restructuring the display, were presented at meetings in November, February and May.
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motions → range → November
But the minutes reveal that a majority of trustees voted against those proposals.
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majority → reveal → proposals
Board trustees and the museum’s chief executive are all appointed with approval from the federal Heritage Minister.
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trustees → appoint → Minister
The board is kept separate from the day-to-day responsibilities of content curation, leaving direct oversight and approval of exhibits to management.
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board → keep → management
The Nakba exhibit, which will remain on display for at least two years, examines what the museum describes as an “ongoing process” beginning in the 1940s, when hundreds of thousands of Palestinian Arabs were displaced from what is now Israel.
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what → remain → Arabs
Israel has been at war with Hamas since Oct. 7, 2023, when the militant group launched a surprise attack, killing around 1,200 people.
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group → launch → people
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 72,000 Palestinians as of May, according to UN officials, and displaced about 90 per cent of Gaza’s population, causing a humanitarian crisis.
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offensive → kill → crisis
Internally, the matter at the museum became especially heated at meetings held from Feb. 25 to Feb. 26, when CEO Isha Khan told board members that they are not her “boss” and that she worried about their trust in her abilities, said five trustees who were in attendance.
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who → become → attendance
The Globe is not identifying four of the trustees because current board members are prohibited from speaking publicly about their work at the museum.
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members → identify → museum
Former trustee Mark Berlin, who resigned from the board just a few days before the exhibit opened on June 27, confirmed the account of the February meeting, describing it as “egregious.”
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exhibit → resign → it
During this meeting, a motion to delay the exhibit was put up for a formal vote after a months-long back and forth during many board sessions, trustees told The Globe.
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trustees → delay → Globe
Those who raised worries about the display were not unsupportive about its intention to spotlight Palestinian displacement; rather, they were concerned about its accuracy and the internal oversight that led up to its announcement, the trustees said.
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trustees → raise → announcement
The minutes from February show that the postponement was voted down, with three in favour of postponing and six against.
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postponement → show → postponing
The documents do not indicate who abstained and who spoke in favour or against the motion.
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who → indicate → motion
In an interview, Ms. Khan acknowledged that several meetings about the exhibit were similarly “animated.”
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meetings → acknowledge → exhibit
Although, referring to the votes on the various motions presented before June, she noted that a majority of the 11-member board repeatedly showed support for the display.
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majority → refer → display
“I think the public reaction to the exhibit, of course, was far more than other exhibits that we’ve opened that have also been contentious for various communities,” she said.
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she → think → communities
“Ultimately, for me, I did have the confidence of our board; or I would not proceed or we would’ve paused, should the board have directed that.”
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board → have → that
Ms. Khan, whose tenure was renewed by Ottawa last fall for a second five-year period, said that during her time at the helm of the museum the board has never been shown the text or content of an exhibit before it went on display.
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it → renew → display
Nor is she aware of any policies or conventions for the boards of other museums to examine or screen exhibits.
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boards → examine → exhibits
Ms. Khan said there are several policies to ensure quality control when approaching contemporary issues.
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Khan → say → issues
However, she said, after discussions on the Nakba exhibit, the museum is working on distilling those policies into a single document as a future reference.
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museum → say → reference
Trustees in February voted in favour of this document being ready for their September board meeting.
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document → vote → meeting
On the issue of fundraising, Ms. Khan said museum management continues to monitor the effect on donations.
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management → say → donations
“What I can tell you is that I don’t believe, at this stage, we’ve seen a significant impact on fundraising as a result of opening the exhibit,” she said, though she did not provide specific figures.
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she → tell → figures
The museum receives more than $28-million annually from the federal government to cover its operating costs, as well as around $1-million from donations.
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museum → receive → donations
…and 31 more, not listed.
