Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek said she’s heard from Calgarians on both sides in response to her decision to withdraw from last week’s menorah lighting at Calgary city hall.
The mayor, who responded to questions on the matter during a break at Tuesday’s Regular Meeting of Council, said she attended an interfaith prayer meeting Monday night that was both “beautiful and difficult.”
“It was an opportunity for faith leaders to come together and members of the community who practice any faith to talk about what’s happening right now and how heavy things are for the Jewish community, for the Palestinian community, for the Muslim community,” she said.
“There was some very raw emotion on display. It was an opportunity for people to understand just how much pain people are dealing with right now.”
Mayor Gondek has faced both staunch support and harsh criticism for the public stand she took, delivering a statement via social media just 24 hours before the annual city hall menorah lighting. The mayor had cited that the celebration had been turned into “something political intentions” as the reason for not attending. Some critics have called for her resignation or said that she’s not fit to be mayor.
The menorah lighting went ahead at Calgary city hall anyway, with Calgary Jewish community leaders referencing the mayor’s decision during the Dec. 7 event. At a moment in the program, Rabbi Levi Matusof of Chabad Lubavitch of Alberta said that he wasn’t the one scheduled to speak at that time.
“The only thing I was meant to do is to introduce the evening and make it clear that this is not a demonstration. This is not violence. This is not darkness. This is life. It’s a peaceful celebration of Hanukkah with the message of unity,” Matusof said that night.
Confronted at the prayer meeting
Mayor Gondek said that she has continued to have conversations with members of Calgary’s Jewish community since last week’s event. She was even approached by people at Monday’s interfaith prayer.
“There were a couple of individuals who told me how incredibly disappointed they were that I didn’t attend. The words were used that, ‘you hurt me by not attending,’” the mayor told reporters.
“I did speak with these individuals, and I explained why I had to make the decision I made. I will continue to speak with members of the Jewish community. I have not cut anyone out from a conversation. I will continue to help.”
When asked why this matter couldn’t have been solved by a conversation with Calgary’s Jewish community prior to the event, the mayor said she had to make the statement she made because of the challenge in reaching all groups that may have been impacted by the interpreted message on the menorah celebration poster, and her decision to withdraw.
“I have an obligation to make sure that I remain politically neutral on this war, so that I am not causing greater grief in my community,” the mayor said.
“There was absolutely no way to reach out to every single Calgarian to explain to them what the difference was between what organizers meant and what the public was picking up. I had to make the statement I made.”
The mayor’s comments came just a short time after a group of protesters rose in council chambers just as it had broken to go into closed session. The group demanded that a ceasefire be called in the Gaza war. The mayor said it didn’t disrupt proceedings, but she made it clear that kind of activity can’t happen at city council.
“These are the types of things that we have to be very careful of in this place. We cannot make city hall political and when the public perception becomes that an event could be political, I have to be very cautious,” she said.
“I will continue to have conversations with members of the Jewish community. I will continue to speak with Calgarians about why I had to make the decision.”
