"We Have Lost All Credibility": Hala Rharrit on Quitting State Dept. & Ending Complicity in Gaza, Democracy Now YouTube video
As human rights groups continue to call out war crimes committed by the Israeli military, we speak to the only U.S. diplomat to publicly resign from the Biden administration over its policy on Israel. We first spoke to Hala Rharrit when she resigned from the State Department in April, citing the illegal and deceptive nature of U.S. policy in the Middle East. "We continue to willfully violate laws so that we surge U.S. military assistance to Israel," she says after more than a year of Israel's war on Gaza. Rharrit says she found the Biden administration unmovable in its "counterproductive policy," which she believes has gravely harmed U.S. interests in the Middle East. "We are going to feel the repercussions of that for years, decades, generations."
Follow Hala Rharrit on Instagram: /hala_rharrit_official
The Palestinian militant group Hamas launched an unprecedented assault on Israel on 7 October, with hundreds of gunmen infiltrating communities near the Gaza Strip. About 1,200 people were killed, and more than 250 were taken to Gaza as hostages, according to Israeli tallies. More than 33,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed in air and artillery strikes carried out by the Israeli military in response, Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry says. Read more
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A small number of US staff, including officials who worked closely on the arms trade and human rights policy, have resigned over the Biden administration's continued arms transfers to Israel for its war in Gaza.[1] A group of staff members resigned amidst anger in the country over Biden's support for Israel, despite rising casualties in the Gaza Strip as Israeli forces continue to commit genocide against Palestinians in the territory.[2]
In a joint statement entitled "Service in Dissent", the resigned officials wrote that "America's diplomatic cover for, and continuous flow of arms to, Israel has ensured our undeniable complicity in the killings and forced starvation of a besieged Palestinian population in Gaza. This is not only morally reprehensible and in clear violation of international humanitarian law and U.S. laws, but it has also put a target on America’s back."[3][4] Resigned officials who spoke to CNN stated that unnamed and non-confirmed former colleagues felt the same way but could not afford to resign.[3] The officials included Lily Greenberg Call, Harrison Mann, Hala Rharrit, Maryam Hassanein, Mohammed Abu Hashem, Riley Livermore, Alexander Smith, Stacy Gilbert, Anna Del Castillo, Annelle Sheline, Tariq Habash, Josh Paul, and Andrew Miller.[5] Read more
