Mississauga organizers cancel vigil honouring Sinwar as ‘Our Mandela’. But local Jews aren’t relaxing yet

The organizers of a vigil for Yahya Sinwar, the former leader of Hamas whom Israeli forces killed earlier this year, have decided to cancel their controversial event just one week before it was scheduled to take place in Mississauga. But the pro-Palestinian organizing group insisted in a written release that it was not intimidated by “pro-Israel lobbies”; instead decision came out of concern for the “safety of our city”. That, and “the urgent food security issue declared 3 days ago,” which their members will be “volunteering to eradicate.” (The news release did not specify the food security issue, nor how they plan to eradicate it.)

Nonetheless, before the cancellation, the event made national headlines for its controversial nature. Mississauga’s mayor, Carolyn Parrish, told B’nai Brith Canada that the rally was allowed to proceed under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Many Jewish and civil society leaders were disgusted after Parrish parroted the promotional flier which compared Sinwar, an internationally recognized terrorist, with Nobel Peace Prize–winning icon Nelson Mandela, who had once also been labelled a terrorist while he was fighting against apartheid in South Africa. Parrish has not apologized for the remarks, despite pressure from Jewish groups.

What does Mississauga’s Jewish community want to see next? On today’s episode of The CJN Daily, we speak with Noah Farber, a political consultant who monitors antisemitism at local public schools; Rabbi Audrey Pollack, the spiritual leader of Congregation Solel of Mississauga; and Dr. Roselyn Allen, a veterinarian who is the security director at that same Reform synagogue.

Related links

• Learn which schools in Mississauga held anti-Israel protests coinciding with the anniversary of Oct. 7, in The CJN.
• It’s not the first time Mississauga has rented city space to anti-Israel groups, in a breach of city policy: read more in The CJN archives (from 2020).
• Why Reform Jewish supplementary schools have a new pro-Israel curriculum developed by Rabbi Lawrence Englander, of Solel Congregation of Mississauga, in The CJN.Example

Credits

• Host and writer: Ellin Bessner (@ebessner)
• Production team: Zachary Kauffman (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer)
• Music: Dov Beck-Levine

Support our show

• Subscribe to The CJN newsletter
• Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt)
• Subscribe to The CJN Daily (Not sure how? Click here)