Hanukkah Celebration Canceled as Jewish Symbols Removed in Towns

A Hanukkah celebration in Virginia has been canceled, and Jewish symbols have been removed from holiday light displays, amid Israel’s ongoing war with Hamas.

Hanukkah is Judaism’s “festival of lights” and Jews gather with family and friends on eight consecutive nightfalls to light one additional candle in the menorah. This year, Hanukkah will be celebrated from December 7 to 15.

A menorah lighting had been scheduled to take place at the 2nd Sundays Art and Music Festival in Williamsburg, Virginia, on December 10, but it has since been cancelled. Shirley Vermillion, the festival’s founder, told the Daily Press that the menorah lighting “seemed very inappropriate” given the war.

“The concern is of folks feeling like we are siding with a group over the other… not a direction we ever decide to head,” Vermillion told the newspaper.

She said that while the festival was inclusive to different religious and cultures, the board was keen to avoid religious affiliations and that Christians and other groups who have asked to perform at 2nd Sundays have been turned down in the past.

Vermillion has been contacted for comment via the festival’s website.

The United Jewish Community of the Virginia Peninsula issued a statement slamming the decision, and said festival organizers had offered to reinstate the event if it were held under a banner calling for a ceasefire.

“We should be very clear: it is antisemitic to hold Jews collectively responsible for Israel’s policies and actions, and to require a political litmus test for Jews’ participation in community events that have nothing to do with Israel,” the statement said. “Those standards would never be applied to another community.”

The menorah lighting would have been led by a local community rabbi and “had nothing to do with Israel or the conflict,” the statement added.

Meanwhile, a Star of David was removed from a holiday light display in Westbrook, Maine, and replaced with a dreidel, which is played during Hanukkah.

Arab American residents had complained about the Star of David, finding it “offensive in relation to the conflict currently in the Middle East,” Westbrook Mayor Michael Foley said, according to the Portland Press Herald.

The six-pointed star is a symbol of Judaism, and features prominently on the Israeli flag.

In a statement on Facebook, Foley said the decision to remove the Star of David was based on legal requirements. A city employee had purchased and displayed the Star of David light display in an effort to promote inclusivity, Foley wrote.

“This decision aligns with legal requirements including the U.S. Constitution’s Establishment Clause and subsequent court rulings which determined certain icons to be non-religious, including Christmas trees, dreidels, and snowflakes,” he wrote.

“We know this is a frustrating decision for some members of our community. However, we take our legal responsibilities very seriously and this means providing a light show that everyone in our diverse community can equally enjoy.”

Meanwhile, a Canadian town’s decision to not display a menorah outside its city hall for the first time in 20 years has sparked an outcry in the community.

City officials had cited a 2015 Supreme Court of Canada ruling that banned religious prayers at municipal council meetings in their decision to not set up the menorah in front of city hall, Francis Weil, the president of the Moncton Jewish Community, said in a statement posted on Facebook.

Some members of the Jewish community have met with Moncton Mayor Dawn Arnold to “explain that this decision is unfair and hurts profoundly the Jewish population of Moncton,” Weil said.

“It is unfair because, while banning the Jewish Menorah, the Christmas tree and the angels that are on City Hall ground will remain. The Jewish Community is happy that the tree and the angels remain, but so should the Menorah.

“It is unfair because the Chanukah Menorah is, for Jews, a symbol of being accepted. In a world where antisemitism has been too often present (and continue to grow), this acceptance is important.”

Newsweek has contacted Weil and the mayor’s office for further comment via email.

Israel has bombed targets across the besieged Gaza Strip and widened a ground offensive following the collapse of a week-long ceasefire on Friday. Israeli officials have said they want to eliminate Gaza’s Hamas rulers, whose October 7 attack on Israel triggered the deadliest Israeli-Palestinian violence in decades.

More than 15,500 people have been killed in Gaza since October 7, The Associated Press reported, citing the Gaza Health Ministry. More than 41,000 have been wounded and a majority of the territory’s 2.3 million Palestinians have been displaced.

The October 7 attack by Hamas killed about 1,200 people in southern Israel, the AP said, and around 240 people were taken hostage. During the truce, 105 hostages who were being held in Gaza were freed in exchange for 240 Palestinians who were being held in Israeli prisons, according to the AP. Most of those released by both sides were women and children.