Avi Lewis chides Miller for saying rights museum should change Palestinian wording

OTTAWA – NDP Leader Avi Lewis says Heritage Minister Marc Miller was wrong to call on the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg to change the wording in an exhibit about displaced Palestinians.

The exhibit, which opened to the public Saturday, focuses on the Nakba — Arabic for catastrophe — the forcible displacement of about 750,000 Palestinians from the region during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.

Both Miller and Lewis have said the exhibit is an important chance for Palestinians to see their history reflected in a prominent museum.

But Lewis said Tuesday that Miller is going against his own promise not to intervene in how the Crown corporation curates its exhibits by saying the institution made an error in how it presented the current conflict between Israel and Palestinians.

Miller told The Canadian Press on Monday that it’s “regrettable” the exhibit did not identify Hamas as a terrorist organization and did not mention that the 2023 attack by Hamas was aimed at killing Jews.

The museum responded that it had made that point in its previous communications outside of the 12-metre-long exhibit and that Hamas killed more than just Jews in its attacks.

Miller also said the museum’s board ought to have had a chance to review the exhibit before its public launch. The museum responded that it had shared detailed reports and designs with the board.

Lewis wrote on social media that Miller should apologize for his “unacceptable political interference” in the museum’s curation and retract his comments.

“This is completely out of line,” Lewis wrote. “His comments are a direct attack on the independence of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights — exactly what the Museums Act is meant to prevent.”

The Conservatives have not directly commented on Miller’s words but have called the exhibit one-sided “propaganda” that lacks context.

The exhibit has been in the works for four years and has become another flashpoint between Canadian groups who support Israelis and those who support Palestinians — as have Miller’s comments.

“We warned the museum for months about the dangers of its approach, which rejected consultation with experts and meaningful engagement with impacted communities in favour of advice from extreme activists,” wrote the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs.

Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East criticized Miller’s remarks.

“These comments from Minister Miller are giving fuel to extremists who want to exclude Palestinian Canadian stories and protect the reputation of a foreign state that is guilty of genocide,” the group wrote.

In his Monday interview, Miller did not weigh in on whether the exhibit needed to include more information about the role of Arab states in the region in the 1940s, after Jewish groups and the Israeli government said the exhibit lacked this context.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 30, 2026.