Terry Newman: Israel expressed concern about ‘Nakba’ exhibit. Carney didn’t even bother responding

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks at Holy Blossom Temple synagogue in Toronto on Monday June 1, 2026. Photo by Ernest Doroszuk/Toronto Sun/Postmedia

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The National Post has learned that Prime Minister Mark Carney has not responded to a letter sent more than a week ago by Israel’s ambassador to Canada, outlining his concerns about the Canadian Museum for Human Rights’ “Nakba” exhibit, which is slated to open on Saturday.

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Ambassador Iddo Moed said he wrote the letter because he was “greatly concerned” following the publication of several reports about the upcoming exhibit.

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“It’s my opinion that this exhibit establishes a narrative that delegitimizes the existence of the State of Israel and takes place at a museum that is funded by the federal government,” he said. Moed also said that he “shares the Jewish community’s concerns that they have not been consulted.”

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In the letter, the ambassador tells the prime minister that he is writing with a “profound sense of urgency” about the upcoming exhibit, and urges Carney and his government “to intervene to prevent this exhibition from proceeding.” Moed outlined several reasons why he feels this is necessary.

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He begins by saying that the exhibit advances a narrative that is “highly contested” and “presents the establishment of the State of Israel primarily through a twisted lens of Palestinian dispossession while disregarding essential historical realities.” This, he suggests, “risks transforming a national institution dedicated to human rights education into a vehicle for political advocacy and social intolerance.”

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He goes on to say that the “Nakba” narrative “omits or minimizes fundamental historical facts, including the Jewish people’s ancient and continuous connection to the Land of Israel, the international legal foundations of Israel’s creation, the rejection of partition by Arab states and leaders in 1947 and their initiation of the broader regional conflict that accompanied Israel’s birth.”

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Moed points out that former prime minister Lester B. Pearson, who was serving as deputy minister of external affairs when the partition debate was taking place in 1947, was familiar with the “Nakba” narrative, but that did not prevent him from saying outright that a Jewish “national home” was “a sine qua non of any settlement.”

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Moed then writes that Pearson’s actions “countered the narrative of a distorted account that depicted Jewish national self-determination as colonial oppression and portrayed Israel’s existence as a historical wrong requiring redress.”

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The ambassador pointed out that, “Narratives that delegitimize Israel often serve as the entry point for hostility toward Jewish communities around the world. In Canada, where antisemitic incidents have reached unprecedented levels since Oct. 7, 2023, public institutions should exercise particular caution before endorsing or amplifying narratives that contribute to polarization, resentment and hostility.”

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He then reminded Carney of his own speech on antisemitism given at the beginning of this month, writing, “You spoke candidly about the crisis confronting Jewish-Canadians.… Yet the relationship between contemporary antisemitism and the demonization of Israel must also be acknowledged.”