US State Department employee resigns over Biden’s Gaza policy

AA / Washington / Hakan Çopur

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Annelle Sheline, an employee of the US State Department, resigned in response to the Joe Biden administration’s policy towards Gaza and the continued delivery of weapons to Israel.

As backlash continues over the United States’ unconditional support for Israel, another US State Department official has resigned from her position.

The letter from Shelina, who left her post in the State Department’s Middle East Affairs Division, was published on CNN’s website.

Sharply criticizing the Biden administration’s policy towards Gaza, Sheline claimed that his administration and ministry did nothing concrete in the face of the massacre of tens of thousands of innocent Palestinians in front of the eyes of the whole world.

“I am resigning from my position at the State Department because I cannot serve in an administration that allows these massacres caused by Israel. The reputation of the United States as a defender of human rights has been almost completely destroyed since the (Gaza) war,” she explained in her letter.

Saying that many people in the Biden administration and department think like her, Sheline recalled that she actually considered resigning quietly, but that when she shared the idea with her colleagues, many people said, “Speak for us.”

– To say that “Israel is acting according to the law” is to make fun of people

Sheline reminded that just a few days ago, the US administration came to the conclusion that “Israel is behaving in accordance with international law”, and that this is a serious “loss of moral ground”.

“To say this while Israel is blocking the entry of humanitarian aid and the United States is forced to drop food from the air is a mockery of the rights and plight of innocent Palestinians.”

Sheline emphasized that it is unacceptable that the US administration continues to send weapons to Israel without any restrictions, and said that the Democrats and the public are reacting seriously at this time.

– Assessment of the spokesman of the ministry of Miller

Responding to questions about Annelle Sheline’s resignation, US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said that everyone makes their own decision on the matter and respects it.

He added that he knows that many people in the department have different views on Israel and Gaza than those in the administration, that this is normal and that he tries to listen to those views as much as possible.

In response to the question, “Do you listen to these opinions and do you take them into account in your policy-making process?”, Miller said that the policy processes regarding Israel are managed by the president and the ministry.

In October 2023, Josh Paul, director general of the US State Department’s Allies and Partners Arms Acquisition Division, resigned from his position for similar reasons.

Later, officials from various levels of the administration wrote a joint letter asking the Biden administration to “end arms sales to Israel.”

*Translated from Turkish by Tuncay Çakmak

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