Ex-White House Interns, Protesters Urge Biden to Demand Gaza Ceasefire

By Al Mayadeen English

8 Jan 2024 20:57

A group of 2022 and 2023 interns have written a petition accusing Joe Biden of having "betrayed" his vow by backing "Israel".

Numerous former White House interns wrote an open letter to Joe Biden, urging his administration to support a quick ceasefire in Gaza.

According to The Guardian, the signatories, who include interns who worked in the White House and executive office of the president between 2022 and the summer of 2023, accused the President of "betraying" his vow to achieve equality and justice by backing "Israel's" war on Gaza.

The letter reads that Biden calls on the young to “lead through the world’s most pressing challenges” but details how “our voices are ignored as our generation speaks in solidarity with the majority of Americans and the world, underscoring the contrast between the values we embraced together and the actions we now witness.”

Joe Biden exhibited unprecedented support for "Israel" in the aftermath of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood. However, over two months later, tensions between the White House and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government have escalated, particularly due to extensive Israeli airstrikes in Gaza which have resulted in over 23,084 Palestinian martyrs, in addition to 58,926 injuries, since October 7, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza.

The letter details the "dissatisfaction" with Biden's actions that reverberates through young people in the US, many of whom were "credited as instrumental in securing your 2020 victory."

It also urges the administration to take "concrete steps" to end the apartheid in Palestine and the ethnic cleansing ongoing in Gaza by calling for a ceasefire, ending unconditional aid to the occupation, releasing captives and Palestinian prisoners, and, most importantly, labeling "Israel's" actions as war crimes.

"Anything less than these measures undermines the justice we collectively aspired to achieve.”

Pro-Palestine protesters interrupt Biden at S. Carolina

Meanwhile, while delivering remarks at the Mother Emmanuel Church in Charleston, South Carolina, Joe Biden was interrupted by pro-Palestinian protesters who urged the US President to call for a halt to the Israeli aggression on Gaza, calling for a “ceasefire now”. The crowd attempted to drown out their calls by chanting, “Four more years."

“I understand their passion,” Biden said, as security removed the protesters from the church, adding, "I‘ve been quietly working, quietly working with the Israeli government to get them to reduce significantly and get out of Gaza."

The letter mirrors the stances of many White House staff and aides, as well as members of the Democratic National Committee, who have attempted to pressure Biden to support a ceasefire through a series of open letters, dissent cables, and resignations.

Last week, Tariq Habash, a senior Education Department official in the Biden administration, tendered his resignation, expressing deep dissatisfaction with President Biden's response to the war against Gaza, Axios reported.

In December, a cohort of White House interns, in a letter addressed to President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, urged the administration to push for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.

The letter, supported by over 40 interns from the Fall 2023 term working across White House and executive offices, accused Biden of neglecting the "pleas of the American people." The interns specifically mention the ongoing aggression on Gaza and describe it as a "genocide of the Palestinian people."

Biden also received a letter signed by more than 400 political appointees and employees from over 40 government departments expressing their disapproval of his blind support for "Israel" and its war crimes against Palestinians in Gaza.

The President and his administration have stepped up their criticism of the occupation in recent weeks, warning that "Israel's" indiscriminate bombing of Gaza, resulting in the deaths of thousands of Palestinian civilians, is causing a decline in support from the international community.

However, opponents argue that the criticism is all talk since the US vetoed a UN resolution calling for a ceasefire, and the White House has largely resisted Democratic congressional proposals to condition military aid to "Israel" to compel the occupation to shift its gears.

No more blank checks: US Sen. demands halting uncapped aid to 'Israel'

Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren called for the end of uncapped military aid to "Israel" on Saturday following Biden's series of approvals that gave the occupation the greenlight to kill civilians en masse.

On Thursday, Warren explicitly condemned the Biden administration's policy of unrestricted military aid to "Israel", saying, "The US cannot write a blank check for a right-wing government that has demonstrated an appalling disregard for Palestinian lives," while advocating for the use of the US influence to establish peace between all parties. 

Bernie Sanders, alongside Warren and other high-influence Democrats, has also denounced the US government's conduct and accused it of being complicit in the Israeli genocide happening in Gaza.

On Friday, Sanders shared a 3-minute video with scenes from Gaza titled "No More US Funding for Netanyahu's War," saying, "Congress must not provide any more U.S. funding for Netanyahu’s illegal, immoral, and brutal war that is destroying the lives of innocent men, women, and children in Gaza."