UPDATE, Dec. 15, 2025: In the wake of the attack against the Jewish community in Sydney, the Calgary Peoples’ Assembly has said they will not protest Monday’s menorah lighting at Calgary city hall.

“Regrettably, some have sought to falsely equate principled opposition to Israel Bonds with antisemitism,” read a news release put out Sunday night.

“This attempt to weaponize genuine fear of antisemitism to silence criticism of Israel’s actions has created an environment in which our planned demonstration risked being used to spread hateful misinformation and potentially incite retaliatory violence against our supporters.”

Meanwhile, Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas posted comments about the Sydney attack on social media.

“This was a deliberate attack on Jews gathered peacefully to celebrate their faith. It was an assault on innocent lives, on freedom of religion, and on the basic expectation that families should be able to come together without fear. There is no justification. No ambiguity. No excuse,” he wrote on LinkedIn.

“Calgary rejects hate. We will speak out, stand up, and defend the right of every person to live openly, worship freely, and gather safely. Today and always.”

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Several groups have come together penning a letter to Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas and city council, asking that the upcoming city hall menorah lighting is free of pro-Israel messaging and the raffling of Israeli government bonds.

The group, under the Calgary Peoples’ Assembly coalition, said if that can’t be done, then the City of Calgary should deny the use of city hall for the event, and city officials prevented from participating.

If the event proceeds without changes, the groups, which include Independent Jewish Voices – Calgary, Palestinian Community Association – Calgary, Palestinian House Association – Calgary, Muslim Voice for Palestine, Justice for Palestinians, Watermelon Foundation for Justice, Calgary Student Movement, Gay Druze Community, Calgary Peoples’ Assembly, and the national organizations Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East and Justice For All – Canada, will demonstrate outside the event Monday evening at 5 p.m. in the municipal plaza.

Beau Shaw, with Independent Jewish Voices – Calgary, said that it’s not about protesting Jewish events. It’s about the pre-purchased Israeli government bonds that are raffled off, with proceeds used as discretionary funds.

“(The funds) can go wherever, and in most cases, a large amount of that money goes to funding military efforts,” Shaw said, noting that the bond advertisements mention war and have military imagery.

If it was just the menorah lighting, Shaw said he’d be inclined to attend the event himself, as a Jewish Calgarian. He said, however, that many Jewish Calgarians are dissuaded from attending the event because of its partisan nature.

“There are Jewish people in Calgary who don’t feel like this event represents a general audience because it is specifically partisan, specifically supporting a government that we don’t agree with,” Shaw told LWC.

Their media release includes claims of up to 100,000 “violent deaths” of Palestinians and International Criminal Court warrants issued for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli Defence Minister. A July report from Reuters pegs the casualty number at around 60,000.

A December 11 report from Amnesty International, however, also documents abuses by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups against Israeli civilians.

‘It is antisemitism, and it is hatred’: Rabbi Matusof

Rabbi Menachem Matusof, with Chabad Lubavitch of Alberta, who is hosting the menorah lighting at Calgary city hall on Dec. 15, said that the Israeli bond certificate raffle is a 37-year-old tradition, but only became an issue in the past two years.

But he believes the problem isn’t just about the bonds.

“It’s not true that they’re not concerned about the lighting of the menorah. They are concerned about the lighting of the menorah,” Matusof told LWC.

“It is antisemitism, and it is hatred, and they would like us not to exist in the world, period.”

He said they were accused of raising funds for Israel. No one has apologized. It’s two bonds of $100 each, given as a gift to children, Rabbi Matusof said.  He said there should be happiness and celebration with the lighting of the menorah.

“You could quote me on all this, because we’re not the troublemakers. They’re the troublemakers and let the world wake up to reality,” he said.

“All we’re doing is getting together to light the menorah and to celebrate and to give a message of the Hanukkah menorah, which is freedom of expression, freedom of religion, freedom of being who we are. That’s the that’s the universal message of the Calgary community menorah, and of all the menorahs, that’s what we celebrate.”

He said they don’t go out with the Torah and the 10 Commandments, and push Passover. Matusof said that Hanukkah carries a universal message.

“This is such a timely message today, live and let live. Allow people to be who they are,” he said.

Former Mayor Jyoti Gondek fanned the flames of controversy when she refused to attend the menorah lighting back in 2023, due to her view that the event had been politicized at a time of heightened tension.

Current Mayor Jeromy Farkas said that he would be attending the event, and that he would show up for any of Calgary’s religious or ethnic communities.

The Calgary People’s Assembly said they sent a letter to Mayor Farkas and city councillors, but haven’t received any response.

LWC contacted the mayor’s office, however, they said he had no further comment on the matter, over and above the comments made earlier in the week.