Alexander Smith, a contractor for the US Agency for International Development (USAID), said he was given a choice between resignation and dismissal after preparing a presentation on maternal and child mortality among Palestinians, which was cancelled at the last minute by USAID leadership last week.

Smith, a senior adviser on gender, maternal health, child health, and nutrition chose to resign on Monday after four years at USAID. In his resignation letter to the head of the agency, Samantha Power, he complained about the inconsistencies in USAID’s approach to different countries and humanitarian crises, and the general treatment of Palestinians.

“I cannot do my job in an environment in which specific people cannot be acknowledged as fully human, or where gender and human rights principles apply to some, but not to others, depending on their race,” he wrote.

  • @[email protected]
    link
    fedilink
    286 months ago

    It’s astonishing that Biden/the administration has decided that Israel is worth throwing away the post-WW2 global system for.

    The US is going to need alliances and partnerships to counter future and current Chinese and Russian revanchist aggression, and Europe has already broken away from the US global leadership because of Gaza. They’ve all reinstated UNRAWA funding, several now formally recognize Palestine, multiple heads of state are openly calling it genocide, and the US sits alone wielding UNSC veto to protect the unsinkable aircraft carrier Israel.