The framing that the Nakba is a “divisive topic” is unfair. The Nakba itself is a historical fact. There is no division about the Nakba. It happened.
To the CBC News Network,
I am writing on behalf of Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (www.cjpme.org) regarding the segment that aired on June 27, 2026 at 4:13 a.m.
The segment reports on the opening of the “Palestine Uprooted” Nakba exhibition, where more than 700 people attended this past Friday to view the exhibit, which highlights the ongoing dispossession of Palestinians, including the forced expulsion of more than 750,000 Palestinians from their ancestral homeland during the creation of the state of Israel.
While much of Canada’s media coverage of the Nakba exhibit was one-sided, omitting Palestinian perspectives entirely, we appreciate that CBC included Palestinian perspectives by including Fouad Sahyoun who mentioned that he and his family were forcibly displaced from Jaffa at the age of four. We also appreciate that CBC spoke with the exhibition’s curator, Isabelle Masson, who explained that the project was inspired in response to the unfortunate reality that Palestinian perspectives are marginalized.
That being said, the segment ended with the reporter Cameron MacIntosh saying that “the exhibit will open exploring a divisive topic.”
The framing that the Nakba is a “divisive topic” is unfair. The Nakba itself is a historical fact. There is no division about the Nakba. It happened.
The divide is about something much bigger than the Nakba, it concerns whether Palestinian stories should be told, or hidden, or always supervised by the perpetrators.
CBC should ask whether such language would be used in regards to the histories of other groups — we believe this language is exceptional, inappropriate, and inaccurate as it leads viewers to think there’s a debate where there isn’t.
Regards,
Media Analyst. Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East