Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek said that she won’t resign despite a petition that has called for her to do so after she snubbed the annual Menorah Lighting event earlier this month.
The petition titled “Mayor Gondek Must Resign” comes after Jyoti Gondek decided to boycott the annual Hanukkah celebration, citing a poster advertising the event as “clearly indicating support for Israel.”
The Counter Signal’s Editor in Chief, Keean Bexte, asked Gondek to respond to the petition that has over 13,000 signatures calling for her to step down as the city’s mayor.
Gondek stuck to her original talking point, saying that “I made a very clear statement about why I chose not to attend the event.”
“There are measures in place in this province by which elected officials are monitored, how we are evaluated for our performance, and nothing that I have done is outside of that,” she responded.
Gondek points to pro-Israel poster as reason for boycotting event
The annual lighting of the Menorah is a tradition that has run for over three decades in Calgary, and one that Gondek has regularly attended in years past.
But just hours before her scheduled speaking appearance at the event, the Calgary mayor pointed to a poster as proof the event had become politicized. The poster didn’t mention anything about the war with Hamas, but featured the words “Supporting Israel,” “Jewish Pride,” and “Am Yisrael Chai!” – a Jewish expression meaning “The people of Israel live.”
“I am saddened that this change makes it impossible for me to attend,” said Gondek on December 7. “The changed nature of tomorrow’s event creates a divide and forces people to choose a side.”
Gondek further waded into the political mess that is the Israeli-Hamas conflict and added, “The killing must stop in Gaza, because it is spreading division and hatred, far and wide. Eradicating Hamas must come in a different form than mass casualties.”
Gondek was ripped by several politicians for her choice, including Liberal MP Anthony Housefather who said Gondek was “sending a horrible message by not attending.”
Calgary Conservative MPs also issued a joint statement, slamming Gondek for her decision.
“Her decision to withdraw could dangerously normalize antisemitism at a time when across campuses and communities, Jewish Canadians are already feeling threatened.”
