A group of former White House interns signed an open letter to Joe Biden imploring his administration to support an immediate ceasefire in the Israel-Gaza war.
The signatories, which include interns who worked in the White House and executive office of the president during 2022 and the summer of 2023, accuse the president of having “betrayed” his promise to pursue equality and justice by supporting Israel’s bombardment in Gaza.
“Consistently, you call upon young people to lead through the world’s most pressing challenges,” the former interns wrote. “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.”
The war has plunged Gaza into catastrophe, with more than 22,000 Palestinians killed, the majority women and children, according to the territory’s healthy ministry. The United Nations recently warned that half of Gaza’s 2.2 million residents were at risk of starvation.
Biden’s steadfast support for Israel’s military campaign in Gaza has been met with widening dissent among corners of the Democratic party and some within his own administration. Progressives, Arab and Muslim Americans, and young people have threatened to abandon him in what is expected to be a narrow presidential election this year.
Polling shows Americans are broadly unhappy with Biden’s response to the war, including a notable erosion in support among key parts of the Democratic coalition, particularly young people.
“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.”
The letter reflects an internal rebellion among staffers and aides at the White House, across the administration and among the Democratic National Committee who have sought to apply pressure to Biden to back a ceasefire through a series of open letters, dissent cables and in at least two instances, resignations. In December, a group of White House interns sent a letter to Biden demanding a “permanent ceasefire”. They did not sign their names, instead identifying themselves by the office where they worked.
Last week, Tariq Habash, a top adviser at the education department and its only Palestinian American political appointee, resigned in protest of the administration’s handling of the war. In his letter to Miguel Cardona, the education secretary, Habash wrote that he could no longer serve an administration that had “put millions of innocent lives in danger”.
He was the second official to publicly resign over the White House’s response to the war in Gaza, which started after Hamas’s cross-border assault on Israel that killed 1,139 people, among them, 695 civilians.
Biden and his administration have escalated their criticism of Israel in recent weeks. Last month, the president said he warned Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, that his government was losing international support over its war and must change policies.
But critics of the Biden administration say the rhetoric has not translated into action. Last month, the US vetoed a UN resolution calling for a ceasefire and the White House has largely ignored calls from Democrats in Congress to condition military aid to Israel as a way to pressure Israel’s government to change course.
