Their letter urged Biden to take “concrete steps to end the conditions of apartheid, occupation, and ethnic cleansing that are the root causes of this conflict”. He also took issue with administration leaders’ repetition of “unverified claims that systemically dehumanize Palestinians”.Ī day before Habash quit, 17 current campaign staffers anonymously called for a ceasefire and conditioning military aid to Israel. In the letter, he objected to the president not pressuring Israel “to halt the abusive and ongoing collective punishment tactics” that have led to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. “I cannot stay silent as this administration turns a blind eye to the atrocities committed against innocent Palestinian lives,” he wrote in announcing his resignation from his position as adviser to its policy planning office.

Habash, who is Palestinian American, is the first political appointee from the Biden administration to bring his resignation to the media and publish an open letter. “I hope it resonates with the president and the people who are making policy decisions on this issue that is affecting millions of lives.” “It speaks to the continued shift and concerns about our current policies,” he said. Tariq Habash, the Department of Education official, also says that he has heard from many more officials than he had anticipated who are contemplating their own exits. “I am hearing in recent weeks from people who are thinking more seriously about resigning.” “It’s pretty extraordinary levels of dissent,” said Josh Paul, a career official working on arms sales at the state department who resigned in protest in October, of the mounting signs of discontent. But as the Guardian’s Jonathan Guyer reports, there are signs even people within his administration are uncomfortable with how Biden has handled the issue:ĭissent inside the Biden administration over the president’s Gaza policy is growing, with a public resignation this week of a Department of Education official, and a letter signed by more than a dozen Biden campaign staffers calling for a ceasefire and the conditioning of aid to Israel. Joe Biden’s approach towards Israel’s invasion of Gaza has sparked a significant wave of protests, including during the president’s speech today in Charleston, South Carolina. Trump’s attorneys argued that the charges against him for trying to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia should be thrown out for several reasons.Įlise Stefanik, a top House Republican and potential vice-presidential pick for Trump, refused to commit to certifying the results of the 2024 election.įlorida Republicans booted state party chairman Christian Ziegler after rape allegations were made against him.īiden continues to stand by defense secretary Lloyd Austin, the White House said, despite the Pentagon waiting days to announce that he had been hospitalized. House Republicans released a resolution to hold Hunter Biden in contempt for not turning up at a behind-closed-door deposition. Back in Washington, DC, congressional leaders announced a deal to fund the government and ward off a shutdown that would partially begin next week, but rightwing Republicans don’t like it. But, in a sign of Biden’s own troubles, protesters interrupted his speech in Charleston, South Carolina, asking him to call on Israel to cease its invasion of Gaza. In his second campaign speech of the year, Joe Biden again unloaded on Donald Trump, warning that the former president’s refusal to accept his 2020 election loss over baseless accusations of fraud amount to a “second Lost Cause” and calling him “a loser”.

What happened to joe bidens first wife