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‘Your terrorist and someone else’s terrorist could also be two various things,’ Mayor Carolyn Parrish stated at a Mississauga metropolis council assembly
Revealed Nov 14, 2024 • Final up to date Nov 14, 2024 • 5 minute learn
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Mississauga Mayor Carolyn Parrish on Nov. 13. Photograph by Screengrab / Metropolis of Mississauga
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Amid the continued controversy over a deliberate vigil commemorating Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar, the mayor of Mississauga, Ont., in contrast the deceased terrorist to Nelson Mandela throughout a council assembly on Wednesday.
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The town and Mayor Carolyn Parrish have come below hearth for saying that the vigil is protected below the Constitution of Rights and Freedoms and for refusing to do something to forestall it from going forward on public property, at Celebration Sq., on Nov. 26.
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Native councillor Joe Horneck questioned why town couldn’t condemn the vigil in its communications, on condition that Sinwar is extensively recognized as a terrorist, together with by the federal government of Canada. Sinwar is taken into account to be the architect behind the October 7 terror assaults in opposition to Israel and was killed Oct. 16 by Israeli forces in Gaza.
Parrish responded by drawing a comparability between Sinwar and Mandela, the anti-apartheid activist and first president of South Africa who died in 2013.
“I just want to point out — and I’m not being facetious — Nelson Mandela was declared a terrorist by the United States of America until the year 2008. Your terrorist and somebody else’s terrorist may be two different things,” the mayor stated.
Mandela and his political social gathering, the African Nationwide Congress (ANC), had been positioned on the U.S. terror listing in 1988, throughout the Ronald Reagan administration, over considerations in regards to the social gathering’s ties to communism and the Soviet Union. In line with then-Canadian prime minister Brian Mulroney’s memoir, the choice was made “strictly in East-West Cold War terms.”
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Mandela was free of jail in 1990 and have become president in 1994. He was allowed to go to the U.S. a number of occasions however his identify technically remained on the phobia listing till 2008, when then-secretary of state Condoleezza Rice requested Congress to take away it.
By evaluating mass assassin Yayha Sinwar and human rights hero Nelson Mandela, the Mayor of Mississauga @carolynhparrish has – once more – crossed a line together with her latest assertion throughout a Metropolis Council assembly earlier at present.
“I just want to point out, and I’m not being facetious,… pic.twitter.com/tSNhqSpVGt
— CIJA (@CIJAinfo) November 13, 2024
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Parrish’s statements comparing Mandela’s activism against South African apartheid to Sinwar — the former leader of a group committed to Israel’s destruction — were widely condemned by leading Jewish voices across the country.
“Making any correlation to Nelson Mandela, a man honoured with the Nobel Peace Prize, to Yayha Sinwar, is despicable. It is an insult to the too-many families who have lost loved ones because of Sinwar, including Canadians,” the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) wrote in a public assertion following the mayor’s feedback. CIJA stated Parrish’s feedback “crossed a line,” including her “moral compass is obviously broken.”
The feedback additionally drew the condemnation of Deborah Lyons, Canada’s particular envoy combatting antisemitism.
“Yahya Sinwar was known as the Butcher of Khan Younis. He was responsible for the brutal murders of both Israelis and Palestinians. The idea of a commemoration for him on Canadian soil is atrocious and should be seen as an affront to anyone who cares about Palestinians or Israelis, to anyone who speaks for peace,” the previous Canadian ambassador to Israel advised the Publish in a written assertion.
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“Rights and freedoms come with responsibilities, as does leadership. To compare this violent murderer with Nelson Mandela is beyond belief. Leaders must be able to see the difference between right and wrong, and have the courage to express it.”
A media consultant from Parrish’s workplace acknowledged receipt of the Ontario Chronicle’s request for remark; nevertheless, no response was acquired in time for publication.
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Parrish confronted opposition from different council members on Wednesday, together with Brad Butt, who stated he “was not impressed with the city’s response.”
“Don’t tell me we can’t say to a group, ‘You can’t use Celebration Square’ because of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. I’m sorry. I don’t buy it,” Butt stated in an impassioned speech.
Parrish requested a authorized consultant from town to clarify her place.
“When we’re talking about a public space like Celebration Square, it’s there; it’s available to the public. The right of peaceful assembly would certainly apply in that context,” Metropolis Solicitor Graham Walsh stated. “If you look at the protests that have been happening across Canada and abroad, over the past year, there are many things happening in those protests that are abhorrent to many, that are uncomfortable, that have not necessarily been such that they would justify a breach to that peaceful assembly. And I would just note that Charter litigation in general is uncomfortable. By its nature, it’s uncomfortable. And freedom of expression, freedom of peaceful assembly, is one of those Charter rights that evokes this level of discomfort.”
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The vigil is being organized by Canadian Defenders 4 Human Rights (CD4HR), which promoted Parrish’s touch upon its social media account. “Sinwar is our Mandela,” the group wrote on X early Thursday morning. The group has beforehand applauded Parrish’s assertion that the occasion can go forward, and defended her in opposition to criticism from Jewish neighborhood leaders.
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Flyers circulating on-line in regards to the occasion present an image of Sinwar emblazoned with the title “Lest we forget our heroes” and purple poppies, a nationwide image of remembrance for Canadian veterans. The commercial was up to date with the textual content “Sinwar is our Mandela” on Tuesday, after the Royal Canadian Legion stated it had a trademark over the phrase “Lest we forget.”
The group’s chief, Firas Al-Najim, posted a video to X on Tuesday of a speech filmed exterior a Royal Canadian Legion department in Mississauga defending the vigil and insisting it will proceed as scheduled. Within the video, Al-Najim is holding a printout of the flyer as he calls Sinwar a “great man” and defends the occasion. The X put up names CD4HR because the organizer of the vigil for “the great hero” and “Axis of resistance martyrs.”
Al-Najim is an area activist who beforehand applauded the October 7 assaults perpetrated by Hamas and denounced the federal authorities for preserving the Palestinian group on its terror listing.
Peel Regional Police advised the Publish earlier this week that they had been conscious of the gathering scheduled for later this month.
“We respect the right to peacefully assemble under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms,” it stated in a press release.
Vigil for the Palestinian resistance leaders that had been martyred for freedom and dignity in Mississauga Nov twenty sixth 2024 @ 6pm pic.twitter.com/LBRgBO1MY8
— Canadian Defenders 4 Human Rights CD4HR (@cd4_hr) November 12, 2024
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