Mississauga mayor celebrates Ramadan with Hamas vigil organizer

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Mississauga Mayor Carolyn Parrish has come under fire for posing for a photograph with a controversial local anti-Israel activist who attempted to organize a vigil for Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar last year.

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Parrish attended a “multi-religious Iftar celebration” at Anatolia Islamic Centre in Mississauga on Wednesday evening, according to a statement on her X account. Iftar is the meal Muslims eat after fasting during Ramadan.

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After the event, the X account for Canadian Defenders 4 Human Rights (CD4HR) posted a photo of Firas Al-Najim flashing a peace sign beside Parrish. It was captioned: “#Palestinewillbefree #endisraelioccupation NOW.”

“Enjoyed meeting your wife and son,” Parrish responded to Al-Najim’s photo on X. “He’s a very sweet little boy.”

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Al-Najim is the leader of CD4HR, an anti-Israel group that sought to commemorate Sinwar at a Mississauga event following his death last October.

“It is deeply troubling to see Mayor Carolyn Parrish continue to associate with Firas Al-Najim — an extremist known for glorifying violence, harassing the Jewish community, and promoting hate,” Michelle Stock of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) wrote National Post in a statement.

Parrish’s office said that the photo-op with Al-Najim was mere happenstance and part of a community outreach event engaging with the broader Muslim community.

“The event was attended by many guests, including the individual referenced,” a spokesperson from Parrish’s office wrote the Post without naming Al-Najim. “The Mayor did not meet with him specifically. He was one of many attendees who requested a photo, which she obliged in the spirit of community engagement. Any suggestion that this interaction constituted a formal meeting is misleading.”

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Asked why the mayor posted a comment under the photo uploaded by CD4HR, the spokesperson responded: “Mayor Parrish often engages with residents of the community on social media to maintain an open and accessible dialogue. While the Mayor did exchange a brief greeting with Mr. Al-Najim in passing during the event, this was not a formal meeting or conversation.”

Stock said Parrish has shown poor judgment when it comes to her interactions with Al-Najim.

“This is not a one-off lapse in judgment; it reflects a long-standing pattern of insensitivity and poor decision-making that undermines public trust. Mayor Parrish’s history of anti-Israel rhetoric, dating back to her time in Parliament, makes this latest incident sadly unsurprising,” wrote Stock, the Ontario vice president representing the prominent Canadian Jewish community group.

“But it should still alarm every resident of Mississauga. Leaders are expected to stand against hate, not stand with those who spread it. If Mayor Parrish cannot recognize the danger in embracing figures like Al Najim, serious questions must be asked about her fitness to represent and protect all members of her community.”

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Sinwar is widely seen as the architect of the October 7 attacks. At the time of the vigil controversy, Mayor Parrish initially said no such celebration was scheduled but insisted the city would “not interfere with a peaceful vigil, as long as all laws and City by-laws are adhered to.”

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However, the CD4HR leader soon contradicted Parrish, releasing a video calling Sinwar a “great man” and showing a flyer confirming the planned vigil. The group later cancelled the commemoration — billed as the “Vigil for the Great Martyr Yahya Sinwar” — citing security and safety reasons.

“CD4HR has consulted the city of Mississauga and we have been assured that we can practice our Charter of Rights and Freedoms and we’ll keep you posted on the next event,” the group said in a statement at the time.

Al-Najim did not respond to the Post’s request for comment before publication.

Al-Najim has a history of controversial remarks. Last August, the watchdog media group Middle East Research Institute (MEMRI) shared a clip of him saying during a webinar for young Muslim leaders that Jews are “treacherous” and “deceiving.”

“We need to go to the roots. How many prophets were killed by the deviant Jews? Thousands. They tried to kill Prophet Muhammad,” he said, clad in a keffiyeh and black baseball cap. “(Jews) are people who have a very treacherous and very deceiving manner. They know how to work with the media. They know how to convince people. They know how to steal. They know how to bribe. They know how to blackmail. They know how to do all kinds of treacherous activities.”

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Throughout the controversy surrounding the proposed vigil last November, Al-Najim repeatedly compared Sinwar to anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela, calling the slain Hamas chief “our Mandela” on several occasions. Parrish echoed this language during a city council meeting that month.

“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 said, responding to a local councillor’s question about why the city did not condemn the Sinwar vigil.

At the time, CIJA condemned Parrish’s comments, calling the comparison “deeply offensive.”

“The former (is a) Hamas terrorist leader responsible for the October 7 terrorist attacks and countless innocent lives lost, and Nelson Mandela, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate known worldwide for his fight for human rights and peace,” the group wrote in a statement at the time.

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