(ReliableNews.org) – In October 2023, former Director at the US Department of State Josh Paul resigned from his position because he couldn’t support “rushing more arms” to Israel amid the war in the Middle East. Paul said he acknowledged the Biden administration’s efforts to help the suffering population in Gaza and its attempts to “temper Israel’s response” to the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, sending arms was just too much for him. Now, a second official announced their resignation from the administration.
On January 3, Tariq Habash, an Office of Planning, Evaluation, and Policy Development policy advisor with the Department of Education, wrote a letter to Education Secretary Miguel Cardona resigning from his post. He accused the Biden Administration of aiding the “indiscriminate violence against Palestinians in Gaza” since the start of the war. As a Palestinian-American, Habash said he could not stand idly by in an administration that “turns a blind eye” to the “genocidal campaign by the Israeli government” against Palestinians in Gaza.
The former advisor also talked about the impact the Israel-Hamas war has had on American colleges and universities across the nation, citing the unease Jews, Muslims, and Arab students feel on campus. He said the Department of Education needs to do more to help those students and protect those who are speaking out against the war in support of those living in Gaza. He accused the Israeli government of equating all Palestinians with Hamas — a conflation that puts Muslims and Palestinians at risk everywhere.
Still, Habash said it was a “privilege” to work with the many people in the administration who care about improving America, although he could not continue in his role.
Aljazeera recently reported that over 22,000 people have been killed in Gaza since Hamas attacked Israel in early October 2023, and at least 57,000 have been injured. In Israel, about 1,140 people were killed in the initial attack, and about 240 others were taken hostage.
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