Minneapolis mayor calls on teacher group to cancel event with activist over alleged antisemitic comment

The mayor of Minneapolis is calling on a local teacher group made up of union members to cancel an upcoming event amid claims the speaker has made antisemitic statements.

The event, titled Being an Educator in a Time of War and Genocide, is being hosted by MFT Educators for Palestine and is set to cover topics like Zionism and anti-Zionism, how to talk to coworkers about Palestine, teaching Palestine in the classroom and the State Board of Investment and Divestment.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey initially expressed his frustration with the speaker choice on Tuesday, claiming that the speaker, Taher Herzallah, had previously made antisemitic remarks, including that Jewish people are “enemy number one.”

Herzallah, who lives in Columbia Heights, says his comments are being taken out of context.

The comments come from a video posted on YouTube by the Muslim American Society a year ago, in which Herzallah spoke for around 20 minutes. That video can be viewed in full HERE.

In a post on X from Mayor Frey on Tuesday, accompanied by a minute-and-a-half-long video of the mayor speaking, he said, “Students should be learning about love, not hate. The MFT Educators for Palestine should cancel their seminar with Taher Herzallah, who has openly expressed anti-Semitic views, including calling Jewish people “enemy number one.” Schools must be spaces for unity, not division.”

Herzallah then responded to Frey’s comments, saying, “Mayor Frey’s comments are grossly deluded as it is clear he did not care to investigate the full context of what was said before engaging in a malicious attack on me. Clearly, I misspoke and did not mean Jewish people but meant Jewish zionists, which is evidenced by the context of what I said before and after that comment. If you watch the complete comments I made in that video, starting at 50:12, you can see that I was discussing Muslim normalization with Zionists and addressing the roles of Jewish and Christian Zionists as adversaries of Palestinian liberation. I also highlighted the crucial support of anti-Zionist Jewish solidarity in our struggle. Those who doctored the video and spread the misquote have one goal: to assassinate my character and prevent me from accessing spaces of influence and power.”

Herzallah continued, saying, “I am most disappointed that Mayor Frey, instead of doing some soul-searching, chose this misquote as an opportunity to attack the incredibly principled teachers and organizers at MFT. Their commitment to objective facts and justice will strengthen their ability to teach students how to become upright global citizens. Educators are not the enemy; they are the backbone of our society.”

“I will continue my advocacy for Palestinian liberation despite the relentless attacks leveled against me,” Herzallah continued. “It is absurd that while my family in Gaza is being starved, maimed, and killed, I have to defend my right to speak about their plight here in the United States. No smear campaign will deter me from speaking the truth and fighting for justice.”  

Mayor Frey sent back the following response on Wednesday, “If Mr. Herzallah is now clarifying that he does not think Jews are the enemy, then Mayor Frey certainly appreciates the clarification. School-age children inherently want to befriend everyone, regardless of their background and beliefs. Adults should be following their lead, not teaching them to hate.”

A flyer for MFT Educators for Palestine can be found below.

Herzallah’s full transcript of what he said can be read in full below or watched HERE.

“Not only has the Muslim community engaged in discussions about the situation in Palestine, Muslim leadership… have come out forcefully and aggressively against the genocide. Now, more than ever, people are questioning the State of Israel’s use and strategic benefit to the United States of America. Now, there are questions about whether or not Israel is, in fact, indeed, a strategic ally of the United States of America, and I tell you right now, if the United States of America decides to pull the plug, then Israel could not continue its occupation. There is no way it can continue its occupation. This week shows that. This week shows that this occupation, instituting a system of apartheid, engaging in ethnic cleansing and genocide is not the way to keep your citizens safe. It’s not the way to secure the future of the State of Israel. This week was the biggest example and case in point. All of these past 75 years of this possession and displacement of the Palestinian people will never break the determination of the Palestinian people. Will never make them want to not fight back. Will never make them believe that Israel is a power that cannot be messed with. No, in fact, this will only fester. Do you think the man in Gaza, who lost all of his family due to an Israeli airstrike or bombardment… who lost his wife, his children, his relatives; all of them dead in one hit, 43 members of the same family, do you think that man is going to wake up tomorrow and say ‘I’m done, I give up?’ No. That man will rise with more determination to fight back against the State of Israel. That is what’s happening in Gaza today; they are standing in the streets protesting that we are ready for whatever is to come. I have family members in Gaza City, the same city that has been given evacuation orders, who told me over the phone that we will not leave. We are determined to stay, no matter what is to come our way. We are ready to die of thirst, of hunger, but we will never leave our homeland. This is a people that cannot be broken… The question is, what are we going to do in this moment of difficulty to support them? I’m not worried about them; I have gone through all the stages of grief this week. I’ve gone from immense sadness and depression to now a complete and utter determination to keep fighting the fight for this just cause. To keep fighting the fight, in our community, to ensure we have a United States against the State of Israel and Zionism. Yes, we shall question the foundations of Zionism as an ideology rooted in white supremacy… Yes, absolutely, we will call out any Muslim leader who engages in normalizing this settler colonial regime, whether here or abroad. We do have these people in our community, unfortunately, and we do have those people who try to normalize through interfaith relationships with Jewish organizations who are explicitly in support of the State of Israel. And it is a fact, that we do have an enemy in this country, absolutely, we’re not operating in a vacuum. We have enemies who support Zionism, who are trying to make their inroads in our community, trying to say that we will support you to build a mosque, but, if you want to engage in interfaith relationships with us, you must not talk about Israel. You must not criticize Israel. There are conditions for their solidarity; we will not accept that. Anybody who has any relationship or any support or identifies themself as a Jewish person, or as a Christian Zionist, then we shall not be their friend. I will tell you that they are enemy number one, and our community needs to recognize that as such. This week has shown us the power of solidarity and the power of those working against Zionism and the occupation.”