WASHINGTON: A senior official in the US Education Department stepped down on Wednesday, citing President Joe Biden’s handling of the conflict in Gaza, the latest sign of dissent in the administration as deaths continue to grow in the war.
Also on Wednesday, 17 Biden re-election campaign staffers issued a warning in an anonymous letter that Biden could lose voters over the issue.
Tariq Habash, special assistant in the Education Department’s Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development, in a letter to Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, said: “I cannot stay silent as this administration turns a blind eye to the atrocities committed against innocent Palestinian lives, in what leading human rights experts have called a genocidal campaign by the Israeli government.”
Habash, a Palestinian-American and an expert on student debt, was appointed early in Biden’s presidency as part of a build-out of the Education Department’s student loan expertise.
The 17 anonymous Biden re-election campaign staffers, in their letter, published on Medium, urged Biden to call for a cease-fire in Gaza.
“Biden for President staff have seen volunteers quit in droves, and people who have voted blue for decades feel uncertain about doing so for the first time ever, because of this conflict,” the staffers wrote in the letter.
Biden’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller earlier on Wednesday said that the US has not observed acts in Gaza that constitute genocide. His remarks were in response to proceedings launched by South Africa at the International Court of Justice over Israel’s military operations in Gaza.
Israel also has denied claims of genocide in Gaza.
Josh Paul, a former State Department official, resigned from the Biden administration in October in protest over what he called the administration’s “blind support” for Israel.
In November, more than 1,000 officials in the US Agency for International Development (USAID), part of the State Department, signed an open letter urging the Biden administration to call for an immediate cease-fire.
After at least three cables criticizing the administration’s policy were filed with the State Department’s internal “dissent channel,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken
acknowledged disagreements
in a November letter.
In December, some staff in the Biden administration held a vigil near the White House to demand a cease-fire in Gaza.
Palestinian Islamist group Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies. Some 240 hostages were also taken back to Gaza. The total recorded Palestinian death toll from Israel’s retaliatory offensive had reached 22,313 by Wednesday, almost 1 percent of Gaza’s 2.3 million population, the Gaza health ministry said.
Israeli bombardments have flattened much of the densely populated enclave, leaving most Gazans homeless, with food shortages threatening famine.
The United States has publicly slammed the rhetoric of some Israeli ministers and pushed Israel to curb civilian deaths in Gaza. Critics argue that Washington is not using its leverage as a major supplier of arms and aid to influence Israeli policy.
US education official resigns over Biden’s Israel-Gaza policy
https://arab.news/ckmkz
US education official resigns over Biden’s Israel-Gaza policy
- Israeli bombardments have flattened much of the densely populated enclave, leaving most Gazans homeless, with food shortages threatening famine
Pakistan tightens security as border conflict intensifies
- PM chairs meeting to review overall security situation in the country
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif this week directed authorities to ensure prompt and comprehensive security measures countrywide, state media reported, as Pakistan’s armed conflict with Afghanistan intensifies.
The latest clashes between the neighbors erupted after Pakistani airstrikes targeted what Islamabad described as militant hideouts inside Afghanistan earlier this month, drawing sharp criticism from Kabul. Afghanistan’s forces retaliated on Thursday night, firing at Pakistani posts along the border and triggering an armed conflict between the two sides.
Pakistan’s Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said on Saturday that 352 Afghan Taliban fighters had been killed and more than 535 wounded since the latest phase of hostilities began. Both sides have claimed to inflict massive damage on the other. However, Arab News could not independently verify the claims.
Sharif chaired a high-level meeting on Saturday to review the overall security situation in the country, state broadcaster Radio Pakistan reported.
“Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif has directed all relevant federal and provincial institutions to ensure prompt and comprehensive security measures in view of the current situation,” the state media reported on Saturday.
The premier directed authorities to ensure mutual coordination and coherence in fulfilling their responsibilities, paying tribute to the armed forces for their sacrifices in the “war against terrorism.”
“During the meeting, the prime minister was informed that all security institutions are on alert and all necessary measures are being taken for the security of the country,” the state broadcaster said.
On escalating tensions in the Middle East, Sharif directed Pakistan’s foreign office to repatriate Pakistani nationals stranded in Iran safely via Azerbaijan.
Meanwhile, explosions echoed across parts of Kabul before sunrise on Sunday, followed by bursts of gunfire, a Reuters witness said. It was not clear what had been targeted or whether there were casualties.
Taliban administration spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said the sounds were the result of Afghan forces targeting Pakistani aircraft over the capital.
“Air defense attacks were carried out in Kabul against Pakistani aircraft. Kabul residents should not be concerned,” Mujahid said.
Pakistan has said Afghanistan harbors Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants, which it said are waging an insurgency inside Pakistan.
Afghanistan has denied the accusation, saying it does not allow Afghan territory to be used against other countries and that Pakistan’s security challenges are an internal matter.
Pakistani security sources have said operation “Ghazab Lil Haq,” meaning “Wrath for the Truth,” was ongoing and that Pakistani forces had destroyed Afghan posts and camps.
Diplomatic efforts have intensified, with Saudi Arabia, Russia, China, the European Union and United Nations urging restraint and calling for talks.
