We speak with Josh Paul, a former State Department official who resigned last month to protest continued arms sales to Israel amid its bombardment of Gaza, writing in a viral letter that one-sided U.S. support for Israel is “shortsighted,” “destructive” and “contradictory.” Media reports say many others inside the State Department are equally frustrated with the U.S. role in the conflict. Paul tells Democracy Now! he tried to raise his concerns with his superiors but found “no appetite for that discussion” and that unlike all other U.S. arms sales that take humanitarian concerns into account, Israel gets a blank check. Paul says the overall message inside the Biden administration is: “Don’t question the policy because it’s coming from the top.” Transcript: https://www.democracynow.org/2023/11/3/josh_paul_resigns_israel_gaza Democracy Now! is an independent global news hour that airs on over 1,500 TV and radio stations Monday through Friday. Watch our livestream at democracynow.org Mondays to Fridays 8-9 a.m. ET. Support independent media: https://democracynow.org/donate Subscribe to our Daily Email Digest: https://democracynow.org/subscribe
  • Candelestine@lemmy.worldEnglish
    42·
    1 year ago

    Unfortunately, it’s just more complicated than that. The Presidency isn’t a movie where you can just follow your heart.

    We cannot actually halt the Israeli offensive. So we retain more ability to influence Israel by staying on their side, even if it’s distasteful and unethical. It’s a strategy though, and one that might have better chances of long term peace.

    After all, it’s not like Israel would stop attacking if we halted our weapon shipments. They have domestic industry. They could just switch to less precise tools once they run out of JDAMs.