Wing Luke Museum Closed After Exhibit on 'Confronting Hate Together' Sparks Staff Walkout

by Nimra Ahmad

The Wing Luke Museum remained closed Wednesday, May 29, with no foreseeable reopening after nearly half the staff walked out last week to protest an exhibit they said compares anti-Zionism with antisemitism.

The exhibit, titled "Confronting Hate Together," was a collaborative effort between Wing Luke, the Washington State Jewish Historical Society, and the Black Heritage Society of Washington State. It was slated to open the day of the walkout.

According to an Instagram post from the protesting Wing Luke staff, the exhibit "shares perspectives from the Washington State Jewish Historical Society (WSJHS) that conflate anti-Zionism as antisemitism." Staff members said they didn't see the exhibit until its media preview, which was unusual because the process for exhibitions at Wing Luke typically involves the reviews and involvement of staff and community advisory committees.

"I cannot speak to the entire process of this particular 'Confronting Hate' exhibit," a staff member who chose to remain anonymous said. (All staff members interviewed asked to remain anonymous to protect their job security and their lives in the face of backlash against pro-Palestine activists.) "Only that the [review] process that I just described is not what happened. Because if it had, the staff wouldn't have been surprised last week when we saw this text panel in question that very much concerned us."

The original text panel read that "antisemitism is often disguised as anti-Zionism," and listed different examples of what it noted as antisemitism, such as graffiti sprayed on a Mercer Island synagogue in the wake of the Oct. 7 attacks and pro-Palestinian university students voicing support for Hamas. It also detailed that calling for a Palestinian state "from the river to the sea" — a common phrase used in pro-Palestinian activism — called for the "erasure of Israel."

On May 19, 26 staff members signed a letter to museum leadership asking for the removal of the text panel as well as other demands. On May 21, the text had been revised, but staff said it still contained what they deemed as Zionist sentiments, and 26 members walked out on May 22. The museum has been unable to open without half of its staff, and the exhibit has not been seen by the general public.

"We really want the museum to take a pro-Palestinian stance, which we think that Wing Luke Museum has not," the staff member continued. "In the community support for this walkout, it's been very clear that the community has suffered, especially as Palestinians are Asian people. The community has suffered because the museum has not taken a strong stance as [an] arts and culture institution that is the only of its kind in the United States. Because Wing Luke Museum is the only pan-Asian museum in the United States, as it claims."

Wing Luke Museum did not respond to requests for comment. The museum's only public response so far has been an Instagram post acknowledging and supporting its staff's right to walk out and protest.

On its Facebook page, the Washington State Jewish Historical Society supported Wing Luke Museum's decision to close.

"This past Tuesday night was a beautiful event focused on solidarity and community. Unfortunately, directly afterward, the Wing Luke Museum was forced to close to the public. While disappointing, the WSJHS respects the pause the WLM took just after the opening so that it could have necessary internal dialogue.

"At a time when education on the danger of anti-Jewish, anti-Black, and anti-Asian hate have never been more relevant, this exhibit is more important than ever. We fully support the re-opening of the Wing Luke Museum."

The Black Heritage Society's website contained this statement: "At BHS we are proud of our pop-up representation and contributors on behalf of BHS. We remain true to our mission and solid in our opinion with respect to our partnership with Confronting Hate Together. Atrocities, harm, and hate against All people are an offense to All of humanity. BHS supports The Wing Luke Museum position to acknowledge the right of their staff to express their beliefs and personal truths as they seek a mutual way forward."

The protesting staff has four demands:

• Remove any language in any WLM publication and question any partnerships that attempt to frame Palestinian liberation and anti-Zionism as antisemitism.
• Acknowledge the limited perspectives presented in this exhibition. Missing perspectives include those of Palestinians, Arabs, and Muslim communities who are also experiencing an increased amount of violence, scapegoating, and demonization as Zionist forces continue the genocide in Palestine.
• Require Community Advisory Committee (CAC) review of all pop-up exhibits, including a community review of the revised "Confronting Hate Together" exhibit content.
• Center voices and perspectives that align with the museum's mission and values by platforming community stories within an anti-colonial, anti-white-supremacist framework.

The staff said community support has been "overwhelming."

"People have been really appreciative that our walkout is trying to hold the museum to the standard that it wants to live up to as a community-based institution," said another staff member, who also chose to remain anonymous. "Overall, there has been frustration across the board of Asian American nonprofits, Asian American organizations, not speaking up and showing support for pro-Palestinian liberation. … Hopefully, this will speak to our executive team."

Initially, 26 staff walked out, and now 22 staff members are continuing to stay out until demands are met. Wages were confirmed for May 22 and May 23 but are unclear going forward, according to an Instagram post from Wing Luke staff. Staff who walked out posted a GoFundMe and noted that many of the staff are front-of-house and others are part-time and non-benefited.

"What we put on the walls of Wing Luke Museum is the responsibility of Wing Luke Museum alone," the staff member said. "As Wing Luke Museum staff take a strong stance against antisemitism and we take a very strong pro-Palestinian stance as well. And likewise with that, we take a strong stance against U.S. imperialism, and we take a strong stance against white supremacist ideologies."

This article is published under a Seattle Human Services Department grant, "Resilience Amidst Hate," in response to anti-Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander violence.

📸 Featured Image: Wing Luke Museum workers walk out to protest "Confronting Hate Together" exhibit. (Photo courtesy of Wing Luke workers)