Nakba Exhibition in Canadian Museum of Human Rights(friendsofcmhr.com)

Palestine Uprooted: Nakba Past and Present Palestine Uprooted: Nakba Past and Present  Opening June 27, 2026 This exhibition has not started yet. Explore current exhibitions Tags: Exhibition Human rights violations Photo: David S. Boyer, public domain Facebook X Exhibition detailsPalestinians use the word al‐Nakba — Arabic for “the catastrophe” — to describe their forced displacement in 1948.In 1948, militias, followed by Israeli forces, expelled civilians, destroying or emptying hundreds of villages amid regional war and lasting instability. Around 750,000 Palestinians were forcibly displaced during the creation of the State of Israel.Five generations later, these people and their descendants still live with insecurity and uncertainty and are unable to return home.The exhibition Palestine Uprooted: Nakba Past and Present explores the human rights violations related to the ongoing forced displacement and dispossession of Palestinians. Featuring personal stories told through objects and video testimonies, the exhibit presents Palestinian Canadians reflecting on their ongoing struggle for justice and human rights. Together with art, photos, and text, these elements reveal enduring patterns of loss and resistance.For Palestinians, the Nakba is both their history and their present — it is an ongoing process shaping every aspect of life today.Forced DisplacementIn everyday language, people may hear “forced displacement” and think mainly of people being physically forced from their homes. From a human rights perspective, the term also includes situations where people flee or leave because conflict, violence, human rights violations, disasters or other pressures make staying impossible or unsafe.Forced displacement can be both a consequence of human rights violations and a cause of further violations.Following the UN partition plan for Palestine adopted in 1947, and until the end of the 1948–1949 Arab‐Israeli war, about 750,000 Palestinians were forcibly displaced. This represented more than half of the Palestinian Arab population of Palestine under British colonial rule, including about three quarters of the Palestinians who lived in the territory that became the State of Israel. Some were expelled by armed groups and then, after Israel’s declaration of independence in May 1948, by the Israeli army. Others fled in fear of violence or left after warnings or instructions, including from Palestinian Arab leaders who called on women, children and elderly people to leave some areas of fighting until conditions became safer. People left with the expectation that they would soon be able to return home Image of displaced Palestinians Displaced Palestinians walk along a road in Jabalia, as they leave areas near Gaza City, January 19, 2025. Photo: Omar Al-Qattaa, Getty Images The NakbaHistorically, the term Nakba refers to the forced displacement and dispossession of Palestinians in 1948. In a modern sense, many people understand the Nakba not only as a past event, but as an ongoing process. This refers to the continuing effects of displacement, refugeehood, military occupation, settlement expansion, home demolitions, land confiscation, movement restrictions, blockade and repeated wars. This understanding of the Nakba as an ongoing process of forced displacement and dispossession is reflected in the work of many scholars, experts and human rights organizations. Quote from Palestinian Canadian We have not disappeared, and we have not forgotten. And we are here. Rana Abdulla, Palestinian Canadian born in Kuwait, accountant, business owner, artist, grandmother, daughter of Nakba survivors. Facebook X SummaryPalestine Uprooted: Nakba Past and Present opens opens June 27, 2026 in the Rights Today gallery, on Level 5 of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.This exhibition is being developed in collaboration with an advisory network of scholars, artists and community members, whose insights and lived experiences shape its content and approach. Dive Deeper Information Disorder in Times of Conflict By
Saranaz Barforoush, Ph. D. and Shayna Plaut, Ph. D. The distortion of facts doesn’t just blur the truth — it shapes how the world sees a conflict, downplaying real suffering and making it easier to see others as “the enemy.” Disinformation is a direct threat to human rights. We see examples of this weapon of war taking a toll in conflicts today. Explore Story Tags: Protection of human rights Human rights violations “My future children will never get to experience the home I knew” By
Damhat Zagros A first person’s reflection on being forced from home and wrestling with what that means for him and for future generations. The article provides evocative narrative as well as background on international law as it relates to refugees and internally displacement peoples and the intergenerational effects of trauma and displacement. Explore Story Tags: Human rights violations The Impact of War on Children Worldwide By
Shelly Whitman Ph. D. “The world is waging war on its children, in an obscene mockery of international law,” wrote Simon Tisdall in The Guardian. In 2022, one in six of all children on the planet were living in conflict‐affected areas. As of 2024, we are witnessing unprecedented levels of attacks against children in armed conflict areas. How can we protect our youth? Explore Story Tags: Children‘s rights Facebook X