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feds united for peace
Another State Department Official Resigns Over Biden Gaza Policy
"I wasn't able to really do my job anymore," said Annelle Sheline. "Trying to advocate for human rights just became impossible."
Mar 27, 2024
Saying her job at a State Department office that advocates for human rights in the Middle East has become "impossible" as the Biden administration continues to back Israel's assault on civilians in Gaza, foreign affairs officer Annelle Sheline resigned from her position on Wednesday in protest of President Joe Biden's policy in the region.
Sheline noted in an interview with The Washington Post that quitting her job in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor was not something she took lightly, with "a daughter and a mortgage"—but said her day-to-day work on human rights had become ineffectual "as long as the U.S. continues to send a steady stream of weapons to Israel."
Despite the fact that U.S. law prohibits the government from arming countries that violate human rights—as Israel has long been accused by the United Nations of doing in its policy toward the occupied Palestinian territories—the Biden administration has approved the transfer of bombs and other weapons to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) since the military began its relentless bombardment of Gaza and blockade on nearly all humanitarian aid.
Sheline told the Post that as the news out of Gaza has grown more dire since October—with at least 32,490 Palestinians killed, at least 74,889 wounded, and parts of northern Gaza now facing famine conditions due to Israel's blocking of aid—some of her bureau's partners in the Middle East have stopped engaging with the State Department.
"If they are willing to engage, they mostly want to talk about Gaza rather than the fact that they are also dealing with extreme repression or threats of imprisonment," Sheline told the Post of the activists and civil society groups her office routinely worked with to further human rights in the region before Israel's assault began. "The first point they bring up is: How is this happening?"
"I wasn't able to really do my job anymore," Sheline added. "Trying to advocate for human rights just became impossible."
Sheline is just the latest official to resign in protest of Biden's approach to Israel and Gaza.
In October Josh Paul resigned from his position as director of congressional and public affairs for the State Department's Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, where he oversaw weapons transfers to U.S. allies.
Paul told the Post that Sheline's decision "speaks volumes about the Biden administration's disregard for the laws, policies and basic humanity of American foreign policy that the bureau exists to advance."
A policy adviser in the Education Department, Tariq Habash, also stepped down from his role in January, saying he could no longer be "quietly complicit" in the killing of tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians.
The State Department's internal dissent channel has also been used by numerous officials to voice outrage over the Biden administration's continued defense of Israel's actions.
Stephen Walt, professor of international affairs at the Harvard Kennedy School, called Sheline's resignation "courageous."
Feds United for Peace, a group of government workers across nearly two dozen federal agencies which organized a daylong fast in January to protest the U.S.-backed slaughter of Palestinians, expressed solidarity with Sheline.
"That decision comes at a personal and real cost to her, and is a loss of a patriotic and deeply qualified employee for the Department of State," said the group in a statement. "Every arms shipment to Israel by the Biden administration and every one of the three vetoes of U.N. cease-fire resolutions has enabled Israeli impunity in its rampage across Gaza... Thousands of innocent lives are in President Biden's hands; the time has come to translate gentle requests for the protection of civilians into concrete action to stop the killing."
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Federal Workers Plan Daylong Fast in Solidarity With Gaza
Feds United for Peace said their second action this month "aims to shed light on the humanitarian crisis faced by the people of Gaza and promote dialogue around lasting solutions."
Jan 29, 2024
A group of workers at over two dozen U.S. government agencies are planning a "Day of Fasting" on Thursday in what they called "a powerful display of solidarity with the people of Gaza," who are enduring a genocidal Israeli assault supported by the Biden administration.
Feds United for Peace—who earlier this month held a "Day of Mourning" to mark 100 days of the war—said Monday that the planned daylong hunger strike is meant "to raise awareness and support those affected" by the relentless Israeli onslaught and "aims to shed light on the humanitarian crisis faced by the people of Gaza and promote dialogue around lasting solutions."
One representative of the group, whose members are anonymous, toldThe Guardian that the fast is a response to Israel's use of "starvation as a weapon of war by intentionally withholding food from entering Gaza."
The group said:
According to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, 500,000 people in Gaza face catastrophic hunger. The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights reports that Gazans make up 80% of ALL people facing famine or catastrophic hunger worldwide. Israel's siege has brought Gaza's families to the brink of starvation.
"Fasting one day will not save them," Feds United for Peace acknowledged. "But pledging to fast, talking about it with colleagues, wearing a keffiyeh or other Palestinian symbols in public solidarity, wearing black as a symbol of outrage and mourning—these are things that can continue to raise awareness."
"Participating in the Day of Fasting can entail a range of efforts," the group explained. "For example, some may choose to fast from dawn until dusk. If one cannot fast from food, Feds United for Peace encourages supporters to observe the day by helping someone in need, volunteering, donating to UNRWA or other relief agencies, or engaging in some other act of giving and remembrance."
Feds United for Peace faced bipartisan backlash in response to the Day of Mourning, with far-right U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) asserting that participants "deserve to be fired" and vowing to pursue "appropriate disciplinary proceedings against any person who walks out on their job."
The Feds United for Peace actions follow a walkout and vigil held last month outside the White House by dozens of Biden administration staffers who concealed their faces because they feared employer retaliation. Earlier in December, more than 40 White House interns sent a letter condemning Israel's "brutal and genocidal response" to the Hamas-led October 7 attacks on Israel and urging President Joe Biden to support a permanent cease-fire. More than 100 congressional staffers also walked off the job in November and held a vigil to mourn the 10,000 Gazans who had been killed by Israeli forces up to that point. The death toll in Gaza now stands at over 26,600, with more than 65,300 others wounded. Most of the victims are women and children.
U.S. State Department personnel have utilized the agency's official dissent channel to condemn U.S. support for Israel's war. More than 100 foreign service officials also signed a scathing internal memo blasting Biden's "unwillingness to de-escalate" Israel's assault on Gaza and his failure to stop Israeli "war crimes and/or crimes against humanity" in the embattled Palestinian enclave.
At least two Biden administration officials have resigned in protest since October—Tariq Habash, a former policy adviser in the Education Department's Office of Planning, Evaluation, and Policy Development, and Josh Paul, ex-director of congressional and public affairs for the U.S. State Department's Bureau of Political-Military Affairs.
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Staff From US Agencies, Congress Join 'Day of Mourning' for Gaza
Feds United for Peace aimed to "convey to our leadership that the current policy on Israel and Gaza is counter to our national interests... and it does not represent the broad will of the American people."
Jan 16, 2024
Employees at over two dozen U.S. departments and federal agencies as well as congressional staffers participated in a "Day of Mourning" on Tuesday, declining to work in the wake of the 100th day of Israel's war on the Gaza Strip.
U.S. President Joe Biden and other leaders in his administration have faced mounting outrage from government employees, the American public, and the international community for supporting the Israeli bombardment and siege that has killed over 24,000 Palestinians in Gaza.
It's now been 102 days since the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel sparked a retaliatory war that a growing number of experts and groups are calling "genocidal." In addition to the rising death toll, tens of thousands of Palestinians have been wounded, about 90% of Gaza's 2.3 million residents are displaced, and children are dying of starvation.
Feds United for Peace, which organized Tuesday's initiative, explained in an email to Common Dreams that "this Day of Mourning was not just for government employees in Washington but for federal employees across the country."
"Despite the closure of federal offices in Washington because of the weather, many employees eligible for telework still participated," the group said. "We do not have a final figure to share, but the number of agencies represented speaks for itself."
"We feel a responsibility and a moral obligation to speak up when our country's leaders are choosing to pursue policies that are hurting America."
There were participants across the departments of Commerce, Defense, Energy, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, Labor, State, and Veterans Affairs, as well as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Environmental Protection Agency, Executive Office of the President, Federal Aviation Administration, Food and Drug Administration, and Internal Revenue Service, according to organizers.
Others joined from the National Labor Relations Board, National Park Service, National Security Agency, National Science Foundation, Naval Research Laboratory, Patent and Trademark Office, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Office of Personnel Management, Social Security Administration, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, United States Agency for International Development, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
The Day of Mourning—exclusively previewed by Al-Monitor—went ahead despite a threat from far-right U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), who said Sunday that "any government worker who walks off the job to protest U.S. support for our ally Israel is ignoring their responsibility and abusing the trust of taxpayers. They deserve to be fired."
Johnson pledged that he and House Oversight Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) "will be working together to ensure that each federal agency initiates appropriate disciplinary proceedings against any person who walks out on their job."
Feds United for Peace told Common Dreams, "We want to emphasize that the Day of Mourning was not a strike or a walkout."
"The purpose of this Day of Mourning was to convey to our leadership that the current policy on Israel and Gaza is counter to our national interests both at home and abroad," the group said. "It is counter to our values, and it does not represent the broad will of the American people."
"We are not activists, we are government employees who love our country and love what America stands for," the group added. "It is precisely because of this deep sense of patriotism that we feel a responsibility and a moral obligation to speak up when our country's leaders are choosing to pursue policies that are hurting America."
According to an organizer with Congressional Staff for a Cease-Fire Now—which held a November vigil at the U.S. Capitol—some staffers of federal lawmakers also took leave on Tuesday "for recognition of the solemn day," even though some members of Congress, including progressives calling for a cease-fire in Gaza, "aren't necessarily supportive of staff lending their own voice to the movement."
"It is inspiring to see that this many different staffers across our government are willing to speak up and raise their voices and say that enough is enough," the organizer told Common Dreams in an interview, noting actions from White House interns, congressional staffers, and others opposed to ongoing U.S. support for Israel's assault on Gaza.
"President Biden and our congressional leaders are out of touch with where the American people are. And frankly, they're not the ones that engage them on a daily basis."
At least two Biden administration officials have resigned in protest since October—Tariq Habash, a former policy adviser in the Education Department's Office of Planning, Evaluation, and Policy Development, and Josh Paul, ex-director of congressional and public affairs for the U.S. State Department's Bureau of Political-Military Affairs.
"We have seen organizers and advocates in the administration and in Congress who are Israeli and Palestinian, who are Jewish and Muslim, who are every identity under the sun demanding a cease-fire now," said the Congressional Staff for a Cease-Fire Now organizer. "President Biden and our congressional leaders are out of touch with where the American people are. And frankly, they're not the ones that engage them on a daily basis."
"We are the ones that hear from them," the staffer said of constituents calling for a cease-fire. "We... pick up their calls, answer their emails, see their posts, and we can see what they are demanding, what they are insisting, what they want to see happen. And if these members of Congress are not willing to get in line with what the American people want, then they don't deserve to represent them in the halls of Congress."
"So we need to continue speaking up. And I think the more time that goes on, the more and more people we see speaking out and feeling comfortable and confident in doing so, when we are threatened by the speaker of the House, it doesn't make us silent," the organizer added. "It makes us bolder, it makes us louder because we aren't going to be silenced. We're on the right side of history. We're not going to let them stamp out this fire in our movement because we can't afford to let that fire be put out."
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