DOI: 10.64749/2169-7442.1289 ISSN: 2169-7442

“A Candle in the Darkness”: <em>On Palestine Uprooted: Nakba Past and Present</em> at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights

Itay Zutra

A scholar of Jewish studies, Itay Zutra reviews On Palestine Uprooted: Nakba Past and Present, an exhibit at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights that opened in June 2026 and is expected to run through November 2028. The exhibit, curated by Isabelle Masson, recognizes the historic and ongoing displacement of Palestinians by the Israeli government by including both historic relics from the initial removal of Palestinians in 1948 and contemporary art engaging continued violence there. Items include artifacts from the life of physician Izzeldin Abuelaish, who lost his daughters and niece to an Israeli attack on their home even as he served in hospital healing his Israeli neighbors; Palestinian-Canadians’ oral histories; and artwork by Rajie Cook and Malek Mattar. The exhibit is thus a historic archive of artifacts and stories of everyday people, a memorial, and a call to end the war in Gaza.