A group of interns who worked in the White House during 2022-2023 wrote to US President Joe Biden, blaming him for not upholding his promise to 'pursue equality and justice' because he supports Israel in its war in Gaza.
"Consistently, you call upon young people to lead through the world’s most pressing challenges. Yet 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.”
“Our dissatisfaction with your actions reflects the sentiments of young people across the United States – individuals whom you credited as instrumental in securing your 2020 victory,” the letter says. “We urge the President and Vice President to take concrete steps to end the conditions of apartheid, occupation, and ethnic cleansing in Gaza by: standing with our allies around the world in demanding a permanent ceasefire, ending unconditional military aid to Israel, securing the release of Israeli and Palestinian hostages alike, and labeling Israel’s recent actions as war crimes. Anything less than these measures undermines the justice we collectively aspired to achieve.”
President Biden has also received a similar demand from his campaign staff, calling on him to push for a ceasefire.
"We write to you as the current staff of your re-election campaign. As we work to mobilize voters to cast their ballots for you in 2024, we must take a moment to acknowledge our tremendous grief, and the grief shared by countless other Americans, toward the violence occurring in Gaza."
"We joined this campaign because the values that you — and we — share are ones worth fighting for. Justice, empathy, and our belief in the dignity of human life is the backbone of not only the Democratic Party, but of the country. However, your administration’s response to Israel’s indiscriminate bombing in Gaza has been fundamentally antithetical to those values — and we believe it could cost you the 2024 election."
"Therefore, we join your 2020 campaign alumni in imploring you to:
- Publicly call for — and use financial and diplomatic leverage to bring about — an immediate, permanent ceasefire;
- Advocate for de-escalation in the region, including demanding that Hamas release all hostages and that Israel release the over 2,000 Palestinians in administrative detention being held without charge;
- End unconditional military aid to Israel;
- Investigate whether Israel’s actions in Gaza violate the Leahy Law, prohibiting U.S. military aid from funding foreign military units implicated in the commission of gross violations of human rights;
- Take concrete steps to end the conditions of apartheid, occupation, and ethnic cleansing that are the root causes of this conflict."
"Like so many others, we continue to be devastated by Hamas’s attack against Israeli civilians on October 7th — it was a vile assault, one that touched the consciousness of the country. The subsequent killing of 20,000 Palestinian civilians, however, has struck the same societal nerve. We cannot repeat the mistakes of the past by allowing the actions of Hamas to justify such further violence against civilians."
"Israel’s attacks in Gaza have had one of the highest civilian death tolls of any conflict in decades. Children have been caught in the center of it, many of them killed by bombs made in St. Charles, MO. In the past 88 days, over 1% of the population of Gaza — including countless women, children, and premature babies — have been killed, while almost 1.9 million Palestinians have been displaced from their homes. There is no safe place for innocent civilians to go, no shelter, and no humanitarian assistance. What we are witnessing in Gaza, as highlighted by countless experts from around the world, is a genocide."
"You have said numerous times that silence in the face of human rights violations is complicity. We agree, which is why we are speaking out now. Every minute that passes without a ceasefire is another life that is lost — a life that could have been saved with political action from you. As your staff, we believe it is both a moral and electoral imperative for you to publicly call for a cessation of violence."
"The majority of Democrats support an end to Israel’s military campaign. Americans, especially young Americans, feel extraordinarily passionate about this issue. In fact, 72% of voters under 30 — a key Democratic voting bloc — disapprove of your handling of the conflict 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. It is not enough to merely be the alternative to Donald Trump. The campaign has to shift the feeling in the pits of voters’ stomachs, the same feeling that weighs on us every day as we fight for your reelection. The only way to do that is to call for a ceasefire."
"This Administration’s profound sense of empathy is one of the reasons we felt inspired to join your reelection campaign. Now, we have faith that you will listen to the two-thirds of the country and three-quarters of our fellow Democrats who support a ceasefire. Complicity in the death of over 20,000 Palestinians, 8,200 of whom are children, simply cannot be justified. Only with an end to violence can we achieve a real and lasting peace that upholds the right to self-determination, safety, and freedom for Palestinians and Israelis alike."
The letter is signed by '17 Biden for President Staffers'.
Both letters come on the background of dwindling approval for the President's policy on the war in Gaza among the American public, and increasing pressure from many members of his party to work to end the war.