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
    • @CandelestineEnglish
      24•1 year ago

      Just depends on the org. With Biden in office, he’s really not exactly the most unscrupulous guy, so it’s probably more effective. Biden is the exact kind of boss this strategy does work on, actually, if it happens enough that it’s not a fluke, he’ll take it into account.

      But I agree, it can be counterproductive sometimes. Especially when done too soon, since once your position is lost, your voice becomes much less impactful.

      • @Aceticon
        2•1 year ago

        I would’ve thought the same about Biden, but seeing not just the continued diplomatic covering being given by the Biden administration to the Fascists in in the Israeli administration after they’ve been full-out acting their fascist fantasies for weeks but even things like the Whitehouse Spokesperson explicitly using the “anti-semite” slander against those critical of said acting out of fascist fantasies by the leaders of the nation state of Israel, I very much doubt Biden is that kind of leader.

        The Public Image of celebrities in general is incredibly stage-managed (I’ve known a couple of minor ones) and that goes even more for Politicians, and clearly that “facet” of Biden is manufactured bollocks, since when push came to shove he has shown no humanitarian principles at all, only uttering lukewarm meaningless non-criticist fluff and the while in actions continuing to “provide unwavering support”.

        What’s happenned in the last month has shown there is not a single principled bone in that man’s body.

        • @CandelestineEnglish
          2•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.

        • @CandelestineEnglish
          -1•1 year ago

          I too wish Bernie had won. But, being a Zionist just means you think Jews need a homeland. Any supporter of a two state solution is supporting Zionism.

          • John Richard
            -1•1 year ago

            What ever happened to democrats believing that we should support diversity? The same Democrats supporting the Israeli ethnostate would not feel the same way if it was Georgia or Alabama giving priority to white Christians and revoking residency of African Americans and stealing their homes.

            • @CandelestineEnglish
              1•1 year ago

              Dems believe that people should not be oppressed. Since Israel has been doing a large amount of oppression for the past 20 years, and they have a lot of power, dems tend to think we should stop giving them weapons.

              Diversity has nothing to do with it in this case. Even if it were actually a diversity issue, we would still need to protect the weak, the ones at risk of being wiped out. That would actually be the poorer and more impoverished ones.

              edit for clarity