When I became an American diplomat in 2006, I swore an oath “to support and defend the Constitution of the United States”. It is in the spirit and implementation of that oath that I resigned from the US State Department in April. My resignation was an act of protest against Washington’s illegal, inhumane and failed Gaza policy, which has continued to surge US military assistance to Israel despite credible evidence of violations of international and US law.
During my 18-year diplomatic career, I served throughout the region, including Yemen, Qatar, Egypt and the UAE. I also had assignments outside the Middle East, in Washington and Hong Kong, and I served as the political/economic unit chief at the American consulate in Durban, South Africa. Diplomacy has always been a passion and a natural career path, given my undergraduate and master’s degrees in international affairs and Arab Studies from George Washington University and Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, respectively. I also worked on Capitol Hill and in think tanks in Washington before joining the State Department. As a political adviser in the US Foreign Service, I worked on a range of issues from human rights to counterterrorism, and collaborated with US agencies on implementing laws like the Leahy Law, which prohibits the American government from providing assistance to foreign military units that commit gross violations of human rights.
Drawing on this cumulative experience, I could not, in good conscience, implement such a catastrophic, militaristic policy as the one we have all seen unfold in Gaza – and now in Lebanon. This policy, characterised by continuous arms transfers to Israel and political protection on the world stage, is enabling actions the International Court of Justice has determined could plausibly violate the Genocide Convention. As an American diplomat who cares deeply about the importance of rule of law and human rights, I could not brush this to the side.
What innocent Palestinians have suffered and endured for the past year is abhorrent – from incessant displacement to constant bombardment, to the deprivation of food, water and medicine. These are potential war crimes.
US policy implicitly supporting the commission of these acts, moreover, is not making Israel any safer (arguably, it does the opposite). Despite its stated goal, it has failed to secure the release of Israeli hostages, whose families continue to suffer. It has destabilised the Middle East to the brink of an all-out war. It has destroyed US credibility while threatening US national security. And it has unleashed generational trauma which, if left unremedied, will ensure a never-ending and vicious cycle of violence.
Crucially, this US policy not only supports violations of international law, but violates US law, too. The US government has systems in place to ensure situations like this do not happen – specifically, that American arms exports are not used to commit gross human rights violations. This is meant to help prevent American complicity in war crimes or crimes against humanity. These include Leahy Vetting (the process the State Department uses to ensure adherence to the Leahy Law), the Arms Export Control Act and the Foreign Assistance Act. But the administration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris is wilfully bypassing and violating these safeguards.
There is overwhelming evidence, including from within the State Department, that US arms are being used in a manner that contravenes the laws I mentioned above. US military assistance to Israel, in spite of that evidence, has continued to surge – and at record levels. This has emboldened Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and resulted in a sense of impunity which assures incessant escalation in the region, threatening everyone’s security.
In my last diplomatic role, as spokesperson based at the US State Department’s Regional Media Hub at the US Consulate in Dubai, I was charged with reporting to Washington how traditional and social media across the Arab world covered the Gaza crisis and how US messaging was being received throughout the region. Every day, I documented for Washington the massacres Israeli forces were perpetrating in Gaza, often sharing gruesome images and videos that were going viral across the Arab world of children being bombed and starved. These reports included warnings of US complicity, such as the use of American-made bombs on civilians and civilian infrastructure – potential war crimes.
In any other situation, these reports, along with many others that were coming directly from American officials and subject-matter experts, would have prompted, at the very least, concerns and a review of US weapons assistance. Instead, the opposite occurred. Although I was assured throughout the conflict that my reports were being read at the “highest levels” of the State Department and shared many times with the White House’s National Security Council, I was told in January that the daily snapshots I was producing were no longer needed. I was pressured instead to go out on Arab media to promote the Biden-Harris administration’s Gaza policy. I refused.
As an American diplomat, I refused to propagate falsehoods and be the face of a policy that was resulting in the mass killings and starvation of innocent civilians. I objected that this was not only inhumane and immoral, but also illegal and against America’s interests. I warned that Washington’s blatant double standards and dehumanisation of Palestinians was ruinous to America’s credibility throughout the Arab world, resulting in a seismic growth of anti-American sentiment across the region and ultimately threatening to US national security. I contended that, unless we changed course immediately, the impact would be felt for generations.
It became clear, however, that no matter what I or other American diplomats did, reported, documented or warned, the policy was not shifting. I took my service to the American people very seriously, and after doing all I could from within the system to little avail, I began to feel that I was violating the oath I took in 2006. So I resigned.
As someone who truly believes in the power of diplomacy and in the US’s potential to play a positive role in the world, it has been devastating to watch my country refuse to use its powerful diplomatic leverage on Israel to achieve a ceasefire and secure a sustained and just resolution to this historic conflict.
Now, the region is potentially on the brink of an all-out war. Millions have been displaced and more than 40,000 have been killed in Gaza – including well over 10,000 children. It’s worth repeating: well over 10,000 innocent children killed and another 20,000 orphaned as they continue to be wilfully starved and incessantly bombed. Now in Lebanon, despite reported agreement from Hezbollah to a US and French-supported ceasefire deal last month, Israel continues to pound civilian areas and the death toll has surpassed 2,000. These are not mere numbers, but rather innocent people with families and aspirations. Allowing this level of killing to continue is as unconscionable as it is indefensible.
None of this was necessary and has instead been disastrously counter-productive. Diplomacy, not more arms, was and continues to be the only answer. This failed and intransigent Biden-Harris policy has not achieved any of its stated objectives, most notably the release of all Israeli hostages or the destruction of Hamas. It is only ensuring a never-ending cycle of violence, revenge, extremism and hate. The generational trauma that the children of Gaza, the West Bank and now Lebanon are experiencing will have an enduring impact.
The families of Israeli hostages themselves have been protesting for months against Mr Netanyahu and his far-right government, demanding an end to the violence and agreement to the ceasefire deal Hamas had already accepted. Yet it is abundantly clear, for Mr Netanyahu’s own political survival and in his pursuit to “reshape” the Middle East, civilians are wilfully and easily sacrificed. Enough is enough. This needs to end and it requires collective action.
There is another way. The US needs to implement and follow its own laws requiring a review and suspension of lethal military assistance to Israel. Friends and allies of America ought to implore it to do so. America must end its complicity and insist on a just and sustainable peace. A ceasefire is possible, if Washington uses its leverage with Israel to push the Israeli government to accept one. No more bombs, no more dangerous and catastrophic escalation. Diplomacy and a recognition of our common humanity is the only solution to end the carnage and save the region from all-out war.
