Another Biden administration appointee resigns because of US policy in Gaza

WASHINGTON

Another Biden administration appointee has resigned, joining a chorus of those who have criticized the president's policy on the war in the Gaza Strip that is being prosecuted by Israel.

Maryam Hassanein said Tuesday she left as a special assistant at the Interior Department.

"I am resigning today from my position as a Biden administration appointee in the Department of the Interior. As a Muslim American, I cannot continue working for an administration that ignores the voices of its diverse staff by continuing to fund and enable Israel's genocide of Palestinians," she said in a statement.

Hassanein, 24, became the youngest of the appointees who have resigned.

She said she joined the administration with the belief that her voice and diverse perspective would lend a hand in the pursuit of justice.

"However, over the past nine months of Israel's genocide in Gaza, this administration has chosen to uphold the status quo instead of listening to the diverse voices of staff urgently demanding freedom and justice for Palestinians," she said.

Hassanein said the only way how to make her voice heard and meaningfully represent her community is to leave.

She said President Joe Biden did not use US leverage to stop the killings in Gaza but "has continued funding this violence, while fueling hate crimes against Palestinian Americans by repeating anti-Arab tropes and outright lies.

"When my family and I, alongside other Muslims and Arab Americans, turned up to vote for President Biden in 2020, it was because the Biden campaign promised justice'. That promise and faith in the administration has been shattered. Through their policy choices and dehumanization of Arabs and Muslims, it has become clear to me that I do not have a place in this administration," she added.

Hassanein's resignation came one week after Mohammed Abu Hashem, a Palestinian-American US airman resigned after a 22-year career because of Washington's support for Israel in its onslaught in Gaza.

Around 11 people have resigned from the US government in protest of Washington's inaction to halt Israeli attacks against Gaza.

At least 37,900 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, mostly women and children, and 87,060 injured, since Tel Aviv launched a strike against the Palestine resistance group, Hamas, on Oct. 7, according to local health authorities.

More than eight months into the Israeli onslaught, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.