Izzy Asper – media tycoon and philanthropist whose name was on the building where I took many University of Manitoba classes – had a dream.
Asper envisioned a place to prevent hate and oppression, and celebrate freedom – a dedicated space to inspire moral action and reflect on both the triumphs and atrocities in human history.
That dream became the Canadian Museum for Human Rights – a national museum in Winnipeg, the geographical heart of Canada.
I’m jealous of friends and other pro-freedom advocates who attended the grand opening of Palestine Uprooted: Nakba Past and Present this weekend.
I haven’t been yet. Partly due to my Mom’s burial yesterday. Fully due to the fact tickets were sold out immediately – including many who flew from across the world to visit.
Principled Past. Silent Present.
The museum is amazing as a concept. However, it’s run by people. People are beholden to the prevailing values and narratives of the powerful.
The 1746 Battle of Culloden, provides the earliest recorded use of the following sentiment: “It is the victor who writes the history and counts the dead.”
It’s easy to promote exhibits on Viola Desmond who fought segregation in a Nova Scotian theater – because polite liberal society all agree that black Canadians should be able to sit wherever white Canadians sit. That’s not a threatening view to hold in 2026.
However, it takes courage to stand for modern human rights – where asking for equality for Christian’s and Muslim’s in the Holy Land is somehow controversial.
Palestinian human rights is too threatening for so many Canadian liberal-minded people who regularly promote human rights for the LGBTQ+ community, refugees and immigrants, and indigenous Canadians because it’s now safe to do so.
Palestinians are beneath their so called principled values because upholding comes with a cost. Equality becomes “complex” when real power is at play in modern battles for equality – and liberals go quiet – despite equality being the definition of their ideology.
I’ll always think of Bob Rae who regularly boasts of a photo he has with Rosa Parks and his commitment to human rights – while he would simultaneously be voting or abstaining from equality for Palestinians when he was the Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations.
Toast to Palestinian Canadians and Museum Personnel
The Palestinian Canadian community is the key stakeholder that should take credit for the opening of Palestine Uprooted: Nakba Past and Present.
Zionists forced their parents (some of which are coworkers) from homes and towns their families have lived in for centuries. Childhood memories are from refugee camps in Lebanon that continue to be attacked 80 years later.
The only crime those families committed was existing and worshipping a different religion than the Jewish militias (now IOF) who couldn’t reside peacefully with Christian or Muslim neighbors.
In truth Israel is a modern day colonial project not unlike the settlers who destroyed the indigenous populations in the Americas.
It’s insulting that those who’ve been displaced aren’t even allowed to tell their own stories without consulting with those who displaced them.
I’ve visited Auschwitz, Plaszow, Srebrenica, Kigali and Hanoi. None of those places consulted with the Nazis, Srpska nationalists, Hutu Power or the Americans on telling their stories.
I was worried over the past year that this exhibit would bow to political pressure and be shelved.
Huge credit to whomever has been battling the internal conflicts at the museum and decided to take a principled stand – something that is rare for modern Canadian institutions.
The Asper Dream Becomes a Nightmare
Gail Asper, daughter of Izzy Asper on the Nakba exhibit:
Short Solo 