A controversial vigil commemorating the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar appears to be going ahead as scheduled, despite a statement from an Ontario mayor that suggested a flyer featuring poppies over a black and white image of the terror leader was not associated with a real event.
Mississauga Mayor Carolyn Parrish drew ire from Jewish community leaders after she said Saturday that the city, located west of Toronto, would not try to stop the Nov. 26 vigil at Celebration Square in Mississauga. “The City will not interfere with a peaceful vigil, as long as all laws and City by-laws are adhered to,” she wrote at the time, adding that permits are not required for events that use public city property.
The flyer, which was shared on social media, used the slogan, “Lest we forget our heroes,” and red poppies — a national symbol of remembrance for Canadian military veterans.
Sinwar was killed by Israeli forces in October and is widely viewed as the architect behind the October 7 massacres in Israel.
On Monday evening, following the backlash to her initial statement, Parrish said in an X post that she had concluded that the event is not real, however, the organizer of the event, Canadian Defenders 4 Human Rights (CD4HR), has maintained in social media posts that the vigil will continue as scheduled.
“Consulted a network of Muslim organizations, serious partners in many activities of our city,” Parrish wrote in a public statement. “I asked them to track down the anonymous notice for a vigil at City Hall. No organization exists. No vigil is planned.” She posted a letter from the Muslim Council of Peel, which said that the event “is not associated with any legitimate organization in Mississauga.”
The letter attached to Parrish’s statement from the Muslim Council of Peel, a local group, denounced “this attack on the mayor,” arguing it “serves only to distract from the genocide and humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where thousands of civilians, including women and children, have lost their lives.” The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) took issue with the mayor circulating a letter that calls Israel’s war on Hamas a “genocide.”
“By sharing a letter from the council that includes inflammatory language and falsehoods about Israel, she has only further divided our community,” CIJA wrote on X.
“Since the troubling post about the November 26 vigil became public, only the Muslim Council of Peel was consulted — excluding Jewish partners and constituents who are most directly impacted.”
When asked in the comments if anyone had tried reaching out to the email on the flyer, Parrish’s X account responded, “Many did. No response.”
However, when National Post reached out via the email, CD4HR directed the Post to an X video posted Tuesday of a speech by the group’s leader Firas Al-Najim, which was filmed outside a Royal Canadian Legion branch in Mississauga. In the video, he is holding a printout of the flyer as he calls Sinwar a “great man” and defends the event. The X post names CD4HR as the organizer of the vigil for “the great hero” and “Axis of resistance martyrs that sacrificed their honourable lives to support the Palestinians & their struggle for liberation.”
Peel Regional Police told National Post it is aware of the gathering scheduled for later this month.
“We respect the right to peacefully assemble under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms,” it said in a statement. “Peel Regional Police will work closely with the City of Mississauga, our community partners and other stakeholders, to ensure that the event remains peaceful. We remind the public that violence, threats of violence and other criminal behaviours will not be tolerated and will be investigated. Our commitment is to ensure the safety and well-being of everyone in our community.”
Jewish leaders urged Parrish to stop the event from going ahead.
“The organizers of the vigil, Firas Al Najim and so-called ‘Canadian Defenders for Human Rights,’ have now confirmed it is authentic and is moving forward. This glorification of terrorists is completely unacceptable. Will you stop it from happening? Will you let an event celebrating killings, rapes, executions, hostage taking and death to take place on public property in your city? Hamas is applauding what is happening in Mississauga,” CIJA wrote in an X post addressed to the mayor.
Parrish’s office acknowledged a request for comment from the Post but did not respond in time for publication.
On Tuesday, CD4HR posted what appeared to be an email from The Royal Canadian Legion that requested the removal of the phrase “Lest we forget” as it “is reserved for use regarding fallen Veterans/Remembrance Day and is an infringement upon the trademark held by The Royal Canadian Legion.” The email conceded that use of the poppy flower is okay.
The CH4HR X account then posted a new version of the poster with the text: “Sinwar is our Mandela.”
In his speech, Al-Najim defended the use of poppies as a Palestinian symbol.
Al-Najim is a local activist who previously applauded the October 7 attacks perpetrated by Hamas and denounced the federal government for keeping the Palestinian group on its terror list.
In August, the Middle East Research Institute (MEMRI), a watchdog group which highlights antisemitism throughout Muslim communities, unearthed a video of Al-Najim, in which he said that the roots of the ongoing conflict resulted from “deviant Jews” trying “to kill (the) Prophet Muhammad.”
Vice president of CIJA Ontario, Michelle Stork, pointed to the incident as an example of the “dire crisis of extremism that threatens public safety.”
“Dangerous displays like this planned vigil glorify terrorism, normalize hateful ideologies, fuel radicalization, and incite violence against communities, including Canadian Jews,” Stork wrote in a public letter sent to Parrish. “Permitting this vigil to occur as planned, honouring a genocidal maniac with the blood of thousands of Israelis and Palestinians alike on his hands would be an affront to the values of freedom, peace, and justice that Mississaugans and all Ontarians hold dear.”
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