Minneapolis approves resolution calling for Gaza ceasefire, overriding mayor’s veto
Mayor Jacob Frey says he supports ceasefire, but language of resolution was too ‘one-sided’ amid concerns over rising antisemitism nationwide
MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota — The Minneapolis City Council overrode a mayoral veto on Thursday and approved a resolution that calls for a ceasefire in Gaza and an end to US military funding to Israel.
The office of Mayor Jacob Frey, who is Jewish, said he has been “clear and consistent” in his support for a ceasefire, but he vetoed the resolution last week because he was concerned about its language being “one-sided” and about rising antisemitism in Minneapolis and beyond.
The resolution calls on state and federal authorities to advance a full, immediate and permanent ceasefire; provide urgently needed humanitarian aid; stop US military funding to Israel; release Israeli hostages taken by Hamas; and release thousands of Palestinians “held indefinitely without cause and trial in Israeli military prisons.”
Council President Elliott Payne and Council Vice President Aisha Chughtai said in a joint statement that they are proud of the nine council members who voted to override the mayor’s veto.
Sana Wazwaz, a leader in American Muslims for Palestine’s Minnesota chapter, said in a statement that the vote signals a radical shift in what is considered acceptable criticism of Israel. Wazwaz said the Minneapolis resolution is unique because it calls for a complete end to US aid to Israel.
Jewish Voice for Peace’s Twin Cities chapter also expressed support for the council’s decision. “As Jews who took part in this process, we were guided by our values and experiences of intergenerational trauma that led us to say ‘never again’ for anyone,” said Nat El-Hai of Jewish Voice for Peace in a statement.
Minneapolis is the latest US city to approve such a non-binding resolution, following Chicago, Atlanta, Detroit and San Francisco in recent months.
As of Thursday, the Palestinian death toll from the war has surpassed 27,000 people, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza. The terror organization’s statistics, however, cannot be independently verified and are believed to include some 10,000 members of Hamas’s military wing who have been killed in battle and Gazans killed by misfired rockets.
The war began with Hamas’s October 7 massacre in which some 3,000 terrorists infiltrated Israel under a barrage of rockets, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting another 253. Hamas is still holding more than 130 hostages, around 30 of whom are believed to be dead.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
