EDITORIAL: Museum gets full marks for hypocrisy on human rights

What lessons on human rights can we take from Palestinians?

Published Jun 21, 2026  •  Last updated 19 minutes ago  •  2 minute read

Aerial view of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, on April 28, 2024. Photo by Sebastien ST-JEAN /AFP via Getty Images

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Officials from the Palestinian Authority (PA) advising the Canadian Museum on Human Rights (CMHR) for an upcoming exhibit about the Nakba would be laughable were it not so hypocritical.

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As the National Post and Winnipeg Sun have reported, Ramsey Zeid, president of the Canadian Palestinian Association of Manitoba and a member of the Winnipeg museum’s Palestinian Content Advisory Network, in 2024 wrote to CMHR Vice-President Matthew Cutler and CEO Isha Khan to say that PA representative Mona Abuamara would tour the museum and wanted to discuss the Nakba exhibit.

(The Nakba marks the displacement of Palestinians following the creation of the Israeli state by the United Nations in 1948.)

Zeid said Abuamara was “keen to receive an update on the progress of the project … and explore how she might be able to assist if necessary.”

Cutler replied that staff would speak with her “about our work around sharing Palestinian human rights stories through the museum, including the exhibit.”

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The Post confirmed the meeting occurred.

The Winnipeg Sun confirmed Khan was briefing senior officials in the Heritage Ministry, which funds the museum, on the conflict between Israel and Gaza.

In response to a Post inquiry about concerns from Jewish groups about balance and consultation, a spokesperson said the Nakba exhibit was “neither a historical retrospective nor an examination of the founding of the State of Israel.”

Amanda Gaudes said it was focused on the “lived experiences of Palestinian-Canadians” and refused to name members of the content advisory committee. The Post later obtained a 2023 list, which included Zeid. After the October 2023 massacre of Israelis by Hamas militants, Zeid wrote publicly that

“Zionism is a disease that must be destroyed.”

What lessons on human rights can we take from Palestinians?

Civil rights in Gaza are zero to non-existent, especially for members of the gay community. According to a 2023 UN report: “LGBT persons living under PA and Hamas control suffer severe persecution and ostracism. In Gaza, it is illegal to be gay. In the West Bank, being gay is not technically illegal, but it may as well be.” It called the West Bank and Gaza among the “most dangerous in the world for LGBT individuals.”

Yet a PA official is “advising” a museum on human rights. Are we living in Canada? Or dystopia?

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