Watch this week’s service on YouTube by clicking:
Join us for Sunday morning worship at CUC at 10:00 AM with the He/SheBrews Café following in the Van Roon Community Hall
- Six Month Statements are being prepared and should be available for pick-up after July 15. Please remember that summer office hours are in effect Monday to Friday 9:00 – 2:00.
- We were saddened recently to learn of the death of Vern Taylor. Vern’s service was held this past week near his family home outside of Steinbach. Please remember his wife Shirley and her family in your prayers this week.
- On Friday we heard news that the father of our musician-in-residence Charmaine Bacon has died. We wish Charmaine and her family God’s blessing, comfort, and peace in their sorrow.
Dear Friends
Welcome to worship for Sunday, July 5, 2026.
The Canadian Museum of Human Rights is an unspeakable source of pride for me as someone who was born and has lived in Winnipeg for most of my life. I have visited on numerous occasions and am always awed by what I experience. This includes the stories that weigh heavily on my heart and the hope with which I am routinely filled.
If you live in Winnipeg you are no doubt aware of the controversy that has accompanied the opening of a new exhibit called Palestine Uprooted: Nakba Past and Present. It is playing out daily in the news with articles, reactions, columns, and letters to the editor. The exhibit presents the story of Palestinians who were forcibly removed from their homes following the creation of the State of Israel in 1948, an injustice that has never been resolved.
That the Nakba took place is not contested and almost everyone, including Jewish communities in Israel and Canada, acknowledge that the Palestinian story has a right to be heard.
The controversy stems from the failure of the exhibit to put that historical moment in context, a consequence of not consulting with Jewish groups in its creation. While there is concern for what museums are and are not, and how exhibits are curated, the more pressing issue is that without the proper context the message, intended or unintended, may be one of Israel arbitrarily acting unjustly and with hatred toward Palestinians in 1948 and thus continuing to do so. Of even greater concern is that this may contribute to the rising tide of anti-Semitism that Canada has witnessed in recent years.
Many have tried to explain what the context was and how the Nakba needs to be understood. The essential points in my reading begin with the creation of the State of Israel as a post World War 2 act of the United Nations. That resolution called for the so-called two state solution with a homeland for Israelis and Palestinians included. The land was not sovereign to either group as it had been controlled by the Ottoman Empire for 500 years until the end of World War 1. There might have been peaceful co-existence and no need for expulsion except that 5 neighbouring Arab countries declared war on Israel and expelled a similar number of Jews from their homes. All of this conflict set in motion the unsettledness that has continued until this day.
I wrote a letter to the CMHR is support of the legitimate concern the Jewish community in Winnipeg was expressing. I said in part:
I am not someone who believes that everything offered in a museum needs to always demonstrate two sides of an issue. This is especially true of what I have witnessed at the CMHR. It is not necessary to show the Russian version of the Holodomor or the opinions of those who justified the Residential School System. That is because research has been done, facts are known, and conclusions are made. The museum takes a position and shares the story that must be told.
However, for the exact same reasons and standards, when historical facts are known and reveal context for human rights violations, that story must also be told. As Mr. Berlin’s resignation letter published in the Free Press makes clear, the five Arab States launching a war against Israel and the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Jews from those same countries is not in dispute. How is the public to make sense of the Nakba in the absence of this information?
Furthermore, was not the establishment of the State of Israel the only possible moral international response to the Holocaust? Were not those who opposed it guilty of condoning the greatest human rights atrocity of the last century? How will the exhibit reflect that?
Love of neighbour is a demanding standard. One of the things I believe it asks of the community of faith is not only be concerned about our own well-being but that of those from whom we differ. God grants us the freedom and the opportunity to speak the word of love. Our Palestinian sisters and brothers have suffered greatly and are filled with fear. Their story is one we need to hear and pay attention to. Our Jewish brothers and sisters are routinely experiencing hatred targeted against them simply as a consequence of their faith and culture. Our faith is built on their foundation.
Grace and peace,
Michael
- For news and events, please have a look at Life & Work on our website: Life and Work
- Share the service with friends by forwarding this email or using this link: https://youtu.be/jFgLEgmTdrw
- Did you know you can support this ministry by e-transfer, automatic withdrawal (PAR), and gifted securities, in addition to weekly or monthly cheques? For Offering Information please visit: https://charleswoodunited.org/support/ Thank you for your generous support.
