Vigil in Mississauga for Hamas leader materialized after fake online posts, sources say

A vigil in Mississauga to honour slain Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was planned only after a flyer advertising a fake event was circulated online.

Sources told INsauga.com that organizers of the ceremony scheduled for Nov. 26 at Celebration Square in front of city hall decided to stage the event to capitalize on the attention the earlier false information was receiving.

“Why not,” the source said. “Everybody wanted to believe that it was going to happen, so why not make it happen. Sometimes you get what you wish for.”

In October, Sinwar was killed by the Israeli military in response to attacks in Israel last year for which he has been blamed. Many Palestinians claim Sinwar to be a martyr for fighting on behalf of his people, while others view him as a terrorist.

The original notice about the vigil began to appear on X (formerly Twitter) last week and was shared by those condemning the event, saying that Hamas is acknowledged as a terrorist organization by the Canadian government. The posts also said the flyer wrongly appropriated the use of the poppy, which is used exclusively by the Canadian Legion for Remembrance Day purposes.

Although the flyer could not be linked to an originating source, those who circulated it called upon Mississauga Mayor Carolyn Parrish to prevent it from happening. And even though the vigil could not be confirmed, several media outlets picked up on the story.

Initially, Parrish said the City of Mississauga was powerless to stop the event because of Charter Rights granting freedom of speech and assembly. However, days later, she took to X to claim the flyer was fake and that Muslim organizations had no knowledge of the vigil.

The Muslim Council of Peel backed her view, claiming news of the vigil was created to “sow division” in the community.

A check by INsauga.com with local Islamic groups also found that none had been notified in advance of the original supposed vigil and had no plans to take part.

Then, on Nov. 11, a video appeared online from an organization calling itself Canadian Defenders 4 Human Rights CD4HR, which claims the vigil will indeed take place.

In the video, a man holds up a different flyer promoting the event and outlines the reason why Sinwar should be honoured.

#CD4HR has organized a vigil for the great hero #yahya_sinwar & Axis of resistance martyrs that sacrificed their honourable lives to support the Palestinians & their struggle for liberation. We also went to commemorate the Canadian peacekeepers that died to broker peace in the… pic.twitter.com/nnFx0yJkrj

— Canadian Defenders 4 Human Rights CD4HR (@cd4_hr) November 11, 2024

A check of the X account of Canadian Defenders 4 Human Rights CD4HR shows no mention of the vigil before the original flyer and subsequent controversy.

“He (the man in the video) does a brilliant job capitalizing on a volatile situation,” another source said. “This thing started by those who oppose Palestine and it backfired … now a vigil will take place where one was never planned.”

As the issue has broadened, Parrish now has come under attack over an event that may or may not happen.

Yesterday (Nov. 13), comments from the mayor during a discussion about the matter at city council prompted an outburst of attacks online. Parrish pointed out that Nelson Mandela was originally considered a terrorist by some nations before he later rose to become president of South Africa.

As for the vigil, whether or not it transforms into an organized event is still up in the air. Canadian Defenders 4 Human Rights CD4HR have not officially responded to requests for an interview and have not indicated if they are actively recruiting participants.

“We will just have to wait and see who shows up on Nov. 26,” the source said. “With the attention this has received, supporters of Palestine already take this as a success. Everybody is talking about it. You can’t beat that kind of publicity.”