US 'not seeing acts of genocide' in Gaza, State Dept says
04 January 2024
BY DAPHNE PSALEDAKIS AND SIMON LEWIS
People inspect damage to their homes caused by Israeli air strikes on January 3, 2024 in Rafah, Gaza.
Image: Ahmad Hasaballah/Getty Images
The US has not observed acts in Gaza that constitute genocide, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Wednesday, after SA launched genocide proceedings at the International Court of Justice over Israel's military operation in the Palestinian enclave.
People inspect damage to their homes caused by Israeli air strikes on January 3, 2024 in Rafah, Gaza.
Image: Ahmad Hasaballah/Getty Images
The US has not observed acts in Gaza that constitute genocide, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Wednesday, after SA launched genocide proceedings at the International Court of Justice over Israel's military operation in the Palestinian enclave.
“Those are allegations that should not be made lightly ... we are not seeing any acts that constitute genocide,” Miller said at a regular news briefing. “That is a determination by the State Department,” he added.
He had been asked about SA's request on Tuesday that the World Court issue an urgent order declaring that Israel was in breach of its obligations under the 1948 Genocide Convention.
The court has scheduled public hearings for January 11 and 12 on SA's request. Israel said it would defend itself from the charges. Israel's crackdown has killed more than 22,000 Palestinians, laid waste to much of the enclave and engulfed its 2.3 million residents in a humanitarian disaster.
Miller said he did not have any assessment to share on whether war crimes or crimes against humanity have been committed.
Washington on Tuesday slammed two Israeli ministers for advocating resettlement of Palestinians outside Gaza, but said Israel had assured US officials that their statements do not reflect its policy.
US officials have said too many Palestinians have been killed in the conflict. They have urged Israel — which Washington provides with weapons — to do more to protect civilians.
The war was triggered by a cross-border Hamas assault on Israeli towns on October 7 in which Israel says 1,200 people were killed and some 240 hostages taken back to Gaza.
The total recorded Palestinian death toll from Israel's offensive had reached 22,313 by Wednesday, the Gaza health ministry said.
Israel has called the genocide case “baseless” and says Hamas is using Palestinians as human shields and stealing aid from them, accusations Hamas denies.
Reuters
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US education official resigns over Biden's Gaza War policy
The New Arab Staff & Agencies
04 January, 2024
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 ceasefire 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 ceasefire.
After at least three cables criticising 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 ceasefire in Gaza.
Hamas' 7 October attack on Israel killed 1,139 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% of Gaza's 2.3 million population, the Gaza's 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 who have advocated the mass displacement of Palestinians from Gaza, 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.
(Reuters and The New Arab Staff)
The New Arab Staff & Agencies
04 January, 2024
The resignation comes amid mounting pressure from within the administration over Biden's staunch pro-Israel stance.
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 ceasefire 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.
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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 ceasefire.
After at least three cables criticising 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 ceasefire in Gaza.
Hamas' 7 October attack on Israel killed 1,139 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% of Gaza's 2.3 million population, the Gaza's 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 who have advocated the mass displacement of Palestinians from Gaza, 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.
(Reuters and The New Arab Staff)
Second Biden admin official quits over US support for Israeli war in Gaza
Tariq Habash, a Department of Education policy adviser, says he can't stay silent and accuses Biden administration of turning blind eye "to what leading human rights experts have called a genocidal campaign by the Israeli government".
AA
Habash accuses Biden administration of aiding Israeli indiscriminate violence against Palestinians in Gaza, questioning integrity of Palestinian death counts in Israeli attacks and voting against resolutions that called for a ceasefire at the UN. / Photo: AA
Tariq Habash, a Department of Education policy adviser appointed by the Biden administration has quit to protest the administration's unwavering military support of Israel's brutal war in Gaza — that has left more than 22,313 Palestinians dead and wounded 57,296 others — and its handling of the war's repercussions at home and abroad.
Habash, a Biden administration appointee who had worked in the education department to help overhaul the student loan system and address inequities in higher education, told The Associated Press he submitted his resignation on Wednesday.
That was after he and others had "done everything imaginable" to work within the system to try to register their objections to administration leaders, he said.
Habash becomes at least the second official, and the first known official of Palestinian origin, to resign from the administration in protest of President Joe Biden's actions regarding the war.
State Department veteran Josh Paul stepped down in October as the administration accelerated arms transfers to Israel.
Habash had been among the administration staffers of Middle East, Muslim and Jewish background taking part in meetings with senior White House officials and others in the administration in response to staffers' concerns on the US role in the war.
Habash described the sessions as more briefings from higher-ups than opportunity for staffers to be heard.
"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 wrote in his resignation letter.
He said the actions of the Biden administration have put millions of innocent lives in danger in Gaza.
"I cannot be quietly complicit as this administration fails to leverage its influence as Israel’s strongest ally to halt the abusive and ongoing collective punishment tactics that have cut off Palestinians in Gaza from food, water, electricity, fuel, and medical supplies, leading to widespread disease and starvation," said Habash.
Habash accused the Biden administration of aiding indiscriminate violence against Palestinians in Gaza, questioning the integrity of Palestinian death counts in Israeli attacks and voting against resolutions that called for a ceasefire at the UN
"And administration leaders have even repeated unverified claims that systematically dehumanise Palestinians," he wrote. In addition, he revealed experiencing dehumanisation and identity erasure by peers, the media and the US government.
Habash, whose family lived through the Nakba, or Catastrophe in 1948, when Palestinians were forced from their lands to make way for an Israeli state, said hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were violently and forcibly expelled from their homes and his relatives have never been allowed to return to their familial homes for 75 years.
"Millions of Palestinians have faced decades of occupation, ethnic cleansing, and apartheid, and the Biden Administration's passive acceptance of this status quo is wholly out of line with democratic values. Our government continues to provide unconditional military funding to a government that is uninterested in protecting innocent lives," added Habash.
The White House referred questions about Habash to the Department of Education and a department spokesperson said "we wish him the best in his future endeavours."
Pressure on US universities
Biden and his top officials have defended Israel's devastating air and ground invasion in Gaza. They point to their repeated urging to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government to change how it is fighting the war so as to lessen killings among Palestinian civilians.
Fallout from the Israel's war in Gaza has roiled campuses across the US and reignited a debate over free speech. College leaders have struggled to define the line where political speech crosses into harassment and discrimination, with Jewish and Arab students raising concerns that their schools are doing too little to protect them.
The issue came to a boil in December when the presidents of Harvard, Penn and MIT were asked to testify at a congressional hearing on campus anti-Semitism. Asked by Republican lawmakers whether alleged calls for the "genocide"of Jews would violate campus policies, the presidents offered lawyerly answers and declined to say unequivocally that it was prohibited speech.
Their answers sparked weeks of backlash from donors and alumni, ultimately leading to the resignation of Liz Magill at Penn and Claudine Gay at Harvard.
The Education Department has warned colleges that they’re required to fight anti-Semitism and Islamophobia on their campuses or risk a loss of federal money.
The agency has opened civil rights inquiries at dozens of schools and colleges in response to complaints of anti-Semitism and Islamophobia in the wake of October 7, including at Harvard, Stanford and MIT.
Education Secretary Miguel Cardona met with Jewish students from Baltimore-area colleges in November and vowed to take action to keep them safe.
He later met with the leaders of national Muslim, Arab, and Sikh organizations to discuss the rise of Islamophobia on college campuses.
In his resignation letter, Habash wrote, "The Department of Education must play an active role in supporting institutions as they respond to the needs of students, faculty, and staff. This includes protecting all students who choose to exercise their first amendment right to engage in non-violent actions, including expressing solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza."
Earlier months of the war saw some administration staffers sign petitions and open letters urging Biden to call for a ceasefire.
Israel's 'genocide' in Gaza
Israel has launched relentless air and ground invasion on Gaza since a cross-fence attack by Hamas on October 7.
Hamas launched its biggest attack on Israel in decades, firing thousands of rockets and sending fighters over the militarised fence to enter Israeli towns nearby.
Hamas says its attack was in response to Israeli violations in the flashpoint Al Aqsa Mosque complex in occupied East Jerusalem and increased violence by illegal Jewish settlers across the occupied West Bank.
More than 22,000 Palestinians have since been killed and over 57,000 wounded in Israeli attacks, while nearly 1,130 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas blitz., many reportedly from own Israeli tanks and fighter jets.
The Israeli onslaught has left Gaza in ruins, with 60 percent of the enclave's infrastructure damaged or destroyed, and some 90 percent of the 2.3 million residents displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine.
South Africa has launched a case at the United Nations' top court arguing that Israel's military invasion in Gaza amounts to genocide.
Tariq Habash, a Department of Education policy adviser, says he can't stay silent and accuses Biden administration of turning blind eye "to what leading human rights experts have called a genocidal campaign by the Israeli government".
AA
Habash accuses Biden administration of aiding Israeli indiscriminate violence against Palestinians in Gaza, questioning integrity of Palestinian death counts in Israeli attacks and voting against resolutions that called for a ceasefire at the UN. / Photo: AA
Tariq Habash, a Department of Education policy adviser appointed by the Biden administration has quit to protest the administration's unwavering military support of Israel's brutal war in Gaza — that has left more than 22,313 Palestinians dead and wounded 57,296 others — and its handling of the war's repercussions at home and abroad.
Habash, a Biden administration appointee who had worked in the education department to help overhaul the student loan system and address inequities in higher education, told The Associated Press he submitted his resignation on Wednesday.
That was after he and others had "done everything imaginable" to work within the system to try to register their objections to administration leaders, he said.
Habash becomes at least the second official, and the first known official of Palestinian origin, to resign from the administration in protest of President Joe Biden's actions regarding the war.
State Department veteran Josh Paul stepped down in October as the administration accelerated arms transfers to Israel.
Habash had been among the administration staffers of Middle East, Muslim and Jewish background taking part in meetings with senior White House officials and others in the administration in response to staffers' concerns on the US role in the war.
Habash described the sessions as more briefings from higher-ups than opportunity for staffers to be heard.
"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 wrote in his resignation letter.
He said the actions of the Biden administration have put millions of innocent lives in danger in Gaza.
"I cannot be quietly complicit as this administration fails to leverage its influence as Israel’s strongest ally to halt the abusive and ongoing collective punishment tactics that have cut off Palestinians in Gaza from food, water, electricity, fuel, and medical supplies, leading to widespread disease and starvation," said Habash.
Habash accused the Biden administration of aiding indiscriminate violence against Palestinians in Gaza, questioning the integrity of Palestinian death counts in Israeli attacks and voting against resolutions that called for a ceasefire at the UN
"And administration leaders have even repeated unverified claims that systematically dehumanise Palestinians," he wrote. In addition, he revealed experiencing dehumanisation and identity erasure by peers, the media and the US government.
Habash, whose family lived through the Nakba, or Catastrophe in 1948, when Palestinians were forced from their lands to make way for an Israeli state, said hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were violently and forcibly expelled from their homes and his relatives have never been allowed to return to their familial homes for 75 years.
"Millions of Palestinians have faced decades of occupation, ethnic cleansing, and apartheid, and the Biden Administration's passive acceptance of this status quo is wholly out of line with democratic values. Our government continues to provide unconditional military funding to a government that is uninterested in protecting innocent lives," added Habash.
The White House referred questions about Habash to the Department of Education and a department spokesperson said "we wish him the best in his future endeavours."
Pressure on US universities
Biden and his top officials have defended Israel's devastating air and ground invasion in Gaza. They point to their repeated urging to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government to change how it is fighting the war so as to lessen killings among Palestinian civilians.
Fallout from the Israel's war in Gaza has roiled campuses across the US and reignited a debate over free speech. College leaders have struggled to define the line where political speech crosses into harassment and discrimination, with Jewish and Arab students raising concerns that their schools are doing too little to protect them.
The issue came to a boil in December when the presidents of Harvard, Penn and MIT were asked to testify at a congressional hearing on campus anti-Semitism. Asked by Republican lawmakers whether alleged calls for the "genocide"of Jews would violate campus policies, the presidents offered lawyerly answers and declined to say unequivocally that it was prohibited speech.
Their answers sparked weeks of backlash from donors and alumni, ultimately leading to the resignation of Liz Magill at Penn and Claudine Gay at Harvard.
The Education Department has warned colleges that they’re required to fight anti-Semitism and Islamophobia on their campuses or risk a loss of federal money.
The agency has opened civil rights inquiries at dozens of schools and colleges in response to complaints of anti-Semitism and Islamophobia in the wake of October 7, including at Harvard, Stanford and MIT.
Education Secretary Miguel Cardona met with Jewish students from Baltimore-area colleges in November and vowed to take action to keep them safe.
He later met with the leaders of national Muslim, Arab, and Sikh organizations to discuss the rise of Islamophobia on college campuses.
In his resignation letter, Habash wrote, "The Department of Education must play an active role in supporting institutions as they respond to the needs of students, faculty, and staff. This includes protecting all students who choose to exercise their first amendment right to engage in non-violent actions, including expressing solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza."
Earlier months of the war saw some administration staffers sign petitions and open letters urging Biden to call for a ceasefire.
Israel's 'genocide' in Gaza
Israel has launched relentless air and ground invasion on Gaza since a cross-fence attack by Hamas on October 7.
Hamas launched its biggest attack on Israel in decades, firing thousands of rockets and sending fighters over the militarised fence to enter Israeli towns nearby.
Hamas says its attack was in response to Israeli violations in the flashpoint Al Aqsa Mosque complex in occupied East Jerusalem and increased violence by illegal Jewish settlers across the occupied West Bank.
More than 22,000 Palestinians have since been killed and over 57,000 wounded in Israeli attacks, while nearly 1,130 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas blitz., many reportedly from own Israeli tanks and fighter jets.
The Israeli onslaught has left Gaza in ruins, with 60 percent of the enclave's infrastructure damaged or destroyed, and some 90 percent of the 2.3 million residents displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine.
South Africa has launched a case at the United Nations' top court arguing that Israel's military invasion in Gaza amounts to genocide.
SOURCE: TRTWORLD AND AGENCIES
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