President Biden’s own cabinet-members are turning on him in light of his handling of the Israel-Hamas war and his refusal to call for a ceasefire to end the conflict in the Middle East.
A senior education official under Biden resigned on Wednesday because of the administration’s ‘failure’ to protect Palestinian civilians in Gaza from Israeli forces in the ongoing deadly conflict between Israel and Hamas that broke out after Hamas’ atrocities on October 7.
Tariq Habash, a policy advisor in the department’s Office of Planning, announced his resignation in a letter to Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, NBC reported.
Habash, who is a Palestinian American, is a political appointee and student loan and college affordability specialist for the education department.
‘I cannot stay silent as this administration turns a blind eye to the atrocities committed against innocent Palestinian lives, in what leading human rights experts have called a genocidal campaign by the Israeli government,’ Habash wrote in his resignation letter.
President Biden’s own cabinet-members are turning on him in light of his handling of the Israel-Hamas war and his refusal to call for a ceasefire to end the conflict in the Middle East
A senior education official under Biden resigned on Wednesday because of the administration’s ‘failure’ to protect Palestinian civilians in Gaza from Israeli forces
President Biden was hit again from the inside of his cabinet after a group of 17 current Biden campaign staffers published a letter slamming Biden for his approach to the Israel-Hamas war out of ‘tough love’
President Biden was hit again from the inside of his cabinet after a group of 17 current Biden campaign staffers published a letter slamming Biden for his approach to the Israel-Hamas war out of ‘tough love’.
The 17 staffers called upon President Biden to demand a ceasefire in the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
‘As your staff, we believe it is both a moral and electoral imperative for you to publicly call for a cessation of violence,’ Biden’s campaign staffers wrote.
‘Complicity in the death of over 20,000 Palestinians, 8,200 of whom are children, simply cannot be justified.’
The letter was anonymously signed and posted on Medium, where it outlines five demands for the President.
Along with demanding a ceasefire, Biden’s own staffers condemned the President for the ongoing ‘unconditional’ military aid being sent to Israel out of U.S. resources.
The anonymous campaign-members advocated for de-escalation in the region where the conflict between Israel and Hamas has taken place – which has mostly been around the Gaza Strip and the West Bank as well as on the Israel-Lebanon border.
They also demanded that Biden and his administration ‘take concrete steps to end the conditions of apartheid, occupation, and ethnic cleansing that are the root causes of this conflict.’
A campaign official refused to comment on the letter but said, ‘when it comes to President Biden’s position, he has been unequivocal: Israel has a right and obligation to defend its people after the October 7 terrorist attack.’
The staffers involved were granted anonymity to protect them from backlash – but five of them confirmed the letter’s legitimacy to West Wing Playbook.
A staffer said that ‘tough love’ is what motivated them to confront Biden.
‘That’s what motivated us to do this,’ a second staffer said. ‘There’s this disconnect in the type of man that he is, and we think him calling for a ceasefire will set things straight and show the world what kind of man he is.’
The anonymous letter demanded that Biden and his administration ‘take concrete steps to end the conditions of apartheid, occupation, and ethnic cleansing that are the root causes of this conflict’
‘I cannot stay silent as this administration turns a blind eye to the atrocities committed against innocent Palestinian lives, in what leading human rights experts have called a genocidal campaign by the Israeli government,’ Tariq Habash, policy advisor, wrote in his resignation letter
A campaign official refused to comment on the letter but said, ‘when it comes to President Biden’s position, he has been unequivocal: Israel has a right and obligation to defend its people after the October 7 terrorist attack’
While many are demanding a ceasefire – the conflict in the Middle East is showing no signs of de-escalation.
Israel’s assassination of Hamas deputy leader Saleh al-Arouri in a drone strike in Lebanon’s capital Beirut on Tuesday has raised fears that the war in Gaza could spread beyond the Palestinian enclave and engulf the Middle East.
Arouri, 57, was the first senior Hamas political leader to be assassinated since Israel launched a brutal air and ground offensive against the group almost three months ago on the heels of the ruthless October 7 attacks on Israeli towns.
Lebanon’s heavily armed Hezbollah group, a powerful Hamas ally, previously vowed to strike back against any Israeli targeting of Palestinian officials in Lebanon, and said of the attack: ‘This crime will never pass without response and punishment.’
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati also condemned the killing, declaring Israel ‘aims to draw Lebanon’ further into the war.
Hezbollah and the Israeli military have been exchanging fire almost daily over the Israeli-Lebanese border since Israel’s military campaign in Gaza began, but so far the Lebanese group has appeared reluctant to dramatically escalate the fighting.
A significant response now could send the conflict spiralling into all-out war on Israel’s northern border.