Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey speaks out against Educators for Palestine event
MINNEAPOLIS — Twin Cities Jewish leaders, including the mayor of Minneapolis, are calling for an event hosted by some of the city's teachers to be canceled.
A group within the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers union called Educators for Palestine invited Taher Herzallah to speak at a seminar on Friday.
Herzallah is a University of Minnesota PhD student and the director of outreach and grassroots organizing for American Muslims for Palestine.
After the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack, Herzallah gave a speech in a YouTube video posted by the Muslim American Society that lasted about 20 minutes.
In the video, he says, "Anybody who has any relationship or any support or identifies themself as a Jewish person or a Christian Zionist, then we shall not be their friend. I will tell you that they are enemy number one."
Mayor Jacob Frey said Tuesday in a social media post, "This is hate, pure and simple."
He called the invitation to Herzallah "a slap in the face to students in our MPS system, to their families."
Friday's seminar is called "Being an Educator in a Time of War and Genocide."
Herzallah says it's not an official union event, but it is being held at the MFT office. He says he'll present Palestinian history and equip the teachers on how to better address the Israel-Hamas war in class.
WCCO asked him about the video clip of him calling Jews the enemy.
"It's clear that I misspoke," Herzallah said. "There's no doubt about that."
Herzallah says he was talking about people who advocate for Israel and its policies.
"Those to me are enemy number one and I stand by that," he said. "But clearly I don't mean Jewish people."
Ethan Roberts with the Jewish Community Relations Council says having Herzallah speak is like pouring kerosene on a fire.
"It's extremely alarming," Roberts said. "All it will do is fuel antisemitism and division and it really weakens the union."
Herzallah counters that criticism of Israel is not antisemitism.
"It's very convenient for people to paint me, an Arab Muslim man with a beard, as this rabid antisemite," he said.
The union and its leadership didn't immediately respond to WCCO requests for comment.
Minneapolis Public Schools released this statement on Wednesday:
"We were recently made aware of an upcoming event being hosted by some members of the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers (MFT). MFT is composed of Minneapolis Public Schools' (MPS) educators, but is a separate entity from MPS. As a general matter, MPS does not have the ability to control the activities of separate entities outside of the school day.
However, MPS has the ability to determine what is taught inside the classroom. MPS remains committed to ensuring that curriculum is aligned with our values which include equity, representation and anti-racism. As a diverse community, we strive to provide a welcoming and safe learning environment for all students that is free from discrimination and harassment."