By The opinion
May 15, 2024, 10:52 PM EDT
An Interior Department official on Wednesday became the first Jewish political official to publicly resign. in protest of US support for Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza.
Lily Greenberg Call, special assistant to the chief of staff at the Interior Department, accused President Joe Biden of using Jews to justify US policy in the conflict in a resignation letter that he publicly announced in X.
In her resignation letter, Lily Greenberg Call, special assistant to Rachael Taylor, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland’s chief of staff, called out President Joe Biden by name and criticized his administration’s lack of condemnation of Israel’s military offensive which for the past seven months has devastated the Palestinian enclave in Gaza.
“I joined the Biden Administration because I believe in fighting for a better America, for a future where Americans can thrive: one with economic prosperity, a healthy planet, and equal rights for all people. “I have dedicated my career to candidates I believed would advance this vision,” Call wrote in his resignation letter to Haaland.
“However, in good conscience I can no longer continue to represent this administration amid President Biden’s disastrous and continued support for Israel’s genocide in Gaza.”
Call has served as special assistant to Taylor since February 2023. She was appointed to her position after working as a field organizer for Vice President Kamala Harris’ primary election campaign in 2019 and then for Biden’s campaign for the 2020 election. .
The Biden administration has faced both external and internal backlash for its almost unconditional support for Israel’s ongoing military campaign, which began after Hamas militants killed about 1,200 people in southern Israel on October 7 and took approximately 250 hostages, of whom about 100 are believed to still be alive in captivity.
Call appears to be the first Jewish American appointee of the Biden administration who resigns in protest of US policy in Gazaand emphasizes that he was raised in Jewish communities in the United States, Israel, and occupied Palestine.
“People in my community lost their loved ones during the Hamas attack on October 7, their loved ones were killed, displaced and taken hostage. “I am terrified by the growing anti-Semitism around the world,” Call wrote. “And yet, I am sure that the answer to this is not to collectively punish millions of innocent Palestinians through displacement, starvation and ethnic cleansing.”
Since October 7, Israeli forces have killed more than 35,000 Palestinians in Gaza, including some 15,000 children, injured almost twice that number, displaced most of the population, destroyed important infrastructure such as hospitals, universities and mosques, attacked aid workers, journalists and doctors and caused the spread of famine and disease by continuing to block access to aid.
Throughout this offensive, The United States has provided almost unconditional diplomatic and military support to Israelpublicly expressing concern for Palestinian security while continuing to approve arms sales and blocking accountability from international organizations.
With information from The Associated Press and The Washington Post
Keep reading:
• UN maintains Gaza death toll after controversy over data
• The US rejects that there is “genocide” in Gaza, but asks Israel to protect civilians
• Why the US-Israel alliance is experiencing its worst crisis in decades