MINNEAPOLIS — The Minneapolis City Council voted to overturn Mayor Jacob Frey's veto of a Gaza ceasefire resolution in a high-stakes meeting Thursday morning.
A joint statement from Council President Elliot Payne and Vice President Aisha Chughtai said they were "proud" of the nine council members who voted to override the mayor.
“This morning the Minneapolis City Council voted to override Mayor Frey’s veto of the resolution passed at our Jan. 25 meeting calling for a permanent ceasefire and preventing loss of life in the Middle East. We are proud of the 9 Council Members who stood by what most Minneapolis residents believe: the defense of humanity is a shared project," the statement read.
"When this Council speaks with the clarity of a veto-proof majority, we will do everything in our power as Council Leadership to defend the will of the body, regardless of the issue," it read. "We hope this is the last time we will be faced with a veto this term and look forward to continuing to work with the Mayor collaboratively in the future.”
When issuing his veto, Frey said he believed the resolution was too "one-sided" and "failed to recognize the history of Israeli Jews." However, in a Thursday morning press conference following the vote, the mayor reiterated his stance that he has "continuously supported a ceasefire," and issued his own ceasefire proclamation.
In it, Frey said he supports an immediate ceasefire; humanitarian aid; release of hostages; an investment toward reconciliation efforts in the region; and a two-state solution, recognizing both Israel and Palestine as independent states.
"Today, the City Council had an opportunity to issue a unifying message, bringing people together across faiths and across ethnicities — they failed to do so," Frey told reporters, adding, "There were more than a few opportunities for us to provide a sense of belonging to both Jews and Arabs who live in Minneapolis. Sadly, that was not achieved."
Frey went on to say that while he broadly supports peace in the Middle East, he doesn't believe the resolution as it stands is "the correct first action" that should be taken by a city council or government.
"It's thousands of miles away; we have no authority over what is happening in terms of the war, and no authority in terms of funding to it," he said. "I do feel it was right to make a statement and put out a position, but I have never felt that this was the correct first action that any city council or government should be taking, especially when we have so many more important issues here."
The city council's resolution supports a ceasefire, but also an end to funding military aid for Israel. After the resolution was initially passed, Council Member Andrea Jenkins said the symbolic effort was made to "stand up against injustice."
"It's a humanitarian crisis," Jenkins said. "I believe, as human beings on the planet, we have to stand up against injustice whenever and wherever it is."
To read more about the City Council's resolution and to see how your council representative voted, click here.
Below is the language from Mayor Frey's proclamation:
WHEREAS, in this moment, I am especially concerned for the health and welfare of our Palestinian, Israeli, Muslim and Jewish residents who are deeply hurting; and
WHEREAS, I unequivocally condemn the targeting and killing of Palestinian and Israeli civilians – both during the horrific October 7 attacks by Hamas, and through the excessive bombing by the Israeli government since that date; and
WHEREAS, the lives taken in this war total over 27,000 Palestinians and over 1,400 Israelis, with those numbers tragically continuing to increase each day; and
WHEREAS, I recognize the right to self-determination and peaceful, safe futures for both Palestinian and Israeli people; and
WHEREAS, I condemn calls locally, nationally, and internationally for one ethnoreligious state to occupy the region and urge international leaders to promote a peaceful resolution of this conflict that results in both an Israeli state and a Palestinian state, a two-state solution; and
WHEREAS, as a local leader, I am using my voice to stand firmly against the rise of all acts of racially motivated violence and hate crimes perpetrated against our Palestinian, Israeli, Muslim and Jewish constituents here in Minneapolis and around the United States; and
WHEREAS, leaders must speak up to unify our city, not divide it.
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