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The following article, a version of which was written in January as a letter to the Minneapolis City Council, was signed by a supermajority of the members of the Minnesota Rabbinical Association, the largest rabbinic organization in Minnesota, representing rabbis across all of the major Jewish denominations. Their names are listed below.
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We urge all Minneapolis City Council members to uphold Mayor Jacob Frey’s veto of the resolution titled “Support of permanent ceasefire and preventing loss of human life in the Middle East,” which the council initially approved on Jan. 25.
We are concerned and disappointed that the council has chosen to focus on a conflict occurring on the other side of the world, rather than on the problems that they uniquely have the power to impact directly. In addition to being outside the City Council’s mandate, this resolution is inaccurate and inflammatory. Demonizing Israel contributes to a frightening atmosphere here in Minnesota that leads to increased antisemitism and puts your Jewish constituents at risk. The vitriolic atmosphere of the Jan. 8 meeting and antisemitic tropes attests to the harmful impact of this resolution.
We are still in shock from the horror of the Oct. 7 attack — the worst atrocity against Jews since the Holocaust. In the recent attack, 695 civilians of all ages and faiths, 373 Israeli security forces and 71 foreign workers were butchered. Many were even raped by members of Hamas. Two hundred forty people were taken hostage, including children and infants. Over one hundred twenty days later, more than 120 hostages remain in Gaza.
In response to these atrocities, the state of Israel was forced into a war that it did not choose or want. The state of Israel has an inalienable right to protect its citizens, doing what it must to prevent anything like Oct. 7 from ever happening again.
