Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, who's running for governor in 2025, has demanded an immediate cease-fire in Gaza, where the death toll topped 30,000 this week. (Photo by Jake Hirsch | N.J. Governor's Office)
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka called Thursday for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza, where the death toll topped 30,000 this week, and condemned “the grim and horrific indiscriminate bombing” there.
Gazan casualties have been overwhelmingly women and children, and Israeli forces have attacked schools, hospitals, refugee camps, EMS vehicles, and food convoys, Baraka noted.
“This is a clear disregard for human life,” Baraka wrote on Instagram.
Baraka, a Democrat and the mayor since 2014 of New Jersey’s largest city, is the only one of four politicians running to become the next governor to have called for a cease-fire.
He called Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel “vile and inexcusable,” adding that the death toll in Gaza “must be condemned” also.
“The notion that all Palestinians are terrorists is not only wrong, it’s racist. To justify these deaths by saying everyone in Gaza supports Hamas is equally wrong and disturbing. The same goes for those who think all of Israel is to blame for the atrocities in Gaza. There are thousands of Israelis organizing and rallying against this hate and violence, and we see you as well.”
He urged President Biden to get more humanitarian aid, food, and water to the people in Gaza and facilitate the release of Israeli hostages.
“Only then can the real work toward a two-state solution begin, and in my estimation, this work requires an immediate ceasefire,” he wrote. “Fundamentally, we should all be on the side of human life. I believe that people should not kill innocent people, and I find it difficult to understand why that idea is so hard to stomach.”
Former Sen. Steve Sweeney, Sen. Jon Bramnick, and Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop also have announced bids to succeed Gov. Phil Murphy.
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