In an unprecedented joint public statement, more than 800 officials from the United States, the United Kingdom, and the European Union have voiced their objections to their respective governments’ support for Israel during the Gaza war.
Simultaneously, several leaders within the American Palestinian community refused to attend a roundtable meeting with Secretary of State Antony Blinken in protest of President Joe Biden’s backing of the Israeli offensive in the region.
While officials involved in crafting this transatlantic message initially expressed their criticisms through internal channels, their governments chose to overlook them. The statement asserts that “our governments’ current policies undermine their moral standing and weaken their ability to advocate for freedom, justice, and human rights on a global scale.” It further warns of a reasonable risk that their governments’ policies could contribute to severe violations of international humanitarian law, war crimes, and even ethnic cleansing or genocide due to the deadly and destructive Israeli military operation that began after Hamas attacks on Israeli settlements and kibbutzim on October 7th of last year.
A former U.S. State Department employee, Josh Paul, who supervised arms transfers before resigning in October last year to protest President Joe Biden’s support for the Israeli military campaign, stated that “the political decision-making of Western governments and institutions concerning the war has created unprecedented tensions with non-political civilian employees.” He added that “unconditional support for the atrocities committed by Israel in Gaza and the disregard for Palestinian humanity represent moral and political failures.”
Many American officials have issued similar dissenting messages critiquing the unconditional support extended by President Biden to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government during the Gaza war.
In November of last year, over 500 employees from approximately 40 government agencies sent a letter to President Biden criticizing his policies regarding the conflict.
Additionally, more than a thousand employees of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) released a similar open letter. Dozens of officials from the State Department sent at least three internal dissent cables to Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
In the 27 European Union countries, which have a joint diplomatic body known as the European External Action Service, along with humanitarian and development agencies, hundreds of officials signed two separate statements expressing their opposition to the European Union’s policy regarding the war. Despite most EU member states’ support for Israel, Ireland, Spain, and Belgium called on European partners to pressure for a ceasefire and focus on the suffering of Gaza’s residents.
Former Dutch diplomat Barb Van der Wood, who resigned in protest of her government’s support for Israel, expressed her desire to speak publicly on behalf of the civil service employees who signed the statement without revealing their identities due to fear of reprisal. She stated, “Being a government employee does not exempt you from continuing to think. When the system makes harmful decisions or takes actions, it is our responsibility to stop them. It’s not as simple as ‘be silent and do as you’re told.’ We also get paid to think.”
Meanwhile, several American Palestinians refused to attend a roundtable meeting with Secretary Blinken on Thursday to discuss the situation in Gaza. The Middle East Understanding Institute, a non-profit organization, quoted some of those who declined Blinken’s invitation, saying, “We do not know what Secretary Blinken or President Biden need to hear or see in order to compel them to end their complicity in this genocide.”
They added that “our families, our community, and all Palestinians deserve better. There is one thing we ask, both us and countless others across the United States and the world, including American unions representing over 8 million workers and at least 47 American cities: a permanent ceasefire to save the Palestinians.”
Dr. Tarek Haddad, who was invited to the roundtable, initially intended to attend but later decided against it. He wrote a letter to Blinken, stating, “I was initially planning to attend this meeting, but after much self-reflection, I have decided that I cannot in good conscience meet with you while knowing that this administration’s policies have been responsible for the deaths of over 80 members of my family, including dozens of children, and the suffering of hundreds of children.”
He questioned, “How can one meet for three minutes with someone deemed responsible not only for killing your child but over 80 members of your family?” He continued, “My family is living on animal feed, Secretary Blinken, because of your policies.”
