“I voiced concern repeatedly, I was silenced”: ex US diplomat on Gaza | UpFront

hello R thank you so much for joining us in up front thank you so much for having me Mark uh H you you've had an extensive career in uh US foreign service last week you became the first career Diplomat to resign over the United States's policies toward Israel uh particularly the continued assault on Gaza now Israel's Siege of course has led to the death of more than 34,000 people and it's destroyed much of the territory after 18 years in the state department how did you arrive at this decision honestly mark it was an agonizing decision I never intended to resign uh when I joined the Foreign Service I expected it to be my career for the rest of my life really until retirement uh but unfortunately the president's Gaza policy made it absolutely impossible it was an indefensible policy um it is a violation of international law of domestic law and in good conscience I could not continue uh amplifying this policy uh because for one it hurt us National Security interest and I was able to document that and it was clear that that was the case throughout the Arab world it was also causing a generational cycle of violence as you noted the devastation for the Palestinians but also it failed to achieve any objectives to keep Israeli safer or get the hostages back uh it was a failed militaristic policy it continues to be a failed policy and I could not in good conscience stay within the system and promote this policy uh Israel has uh begun its invasion of the Southern Gaza City of Rafa uh in March uh US President Joe Biden had called Rafa Invasion a red line for the United States that it was a step too far uh that would prompt a US response uh now that Israel has crossed that red line do you think that the Biden Administration is going to change its current stance I certainly hope so and I have to say that benjam Netanyahu announced the invasion of Rafa right after secretary blinkin was wheels up from his trip to Israel where he again reiterated the US position that uh they should not go into Rafa considering the civilian population but this is the frustration that's been with this policy this entire time it's been just words and diplomacy is an art and you have to use your leverage and we haven't used any of the leverage that we have on Israel we keep on using the same rhetoric over and over again hoping for a change and we continue to not see that change as a matter of fact we continue to see the situation get worse as a spokesperson I was receiving the talking points and over and over again they were the same we are gravely concerned we are concerned for the civilian casualties there comes a point where you need to take action on that concern and and it is clear that the despite us warnings nothing is happening on the Israeli side in terms of of holding back on RAF and so it is time now for President Biden to take action words are no longer sufficient now is the time to leverage our influence by conditioning military aid at the very least cutting offensive Weaponry in line with us law you know at this point there are many people who will look at uh the recent developments uh for example this week was reported the US has halted the delivery of Munitions to Israel there people who say well this is just uh a superficial move where this is just public relations that they're still going to try out those talking points that you mentioned that there are that there's still going to be empty promises and leaked uh you know statements about Biden's backdoor debates with Netanyahu but at the end of the day the status quo is uh going to maintain how hopeful are you that things are changing and or or or or not listen Mark it's been it's it's very difficult uh I want to be hopeful I want to believe that they're going to take tangible steps but at the same time I've been in the service long enough to know that I'm not going to hold my breath until I actually see action uh the hold was significant but it was also a drop in the bucket and it wasn't a policy shift uh there continues to be rhetoric coming out of the White House and out of the the department saying that we're going to continue and we're going to amplify military assistance now is not the time for that the administration needs to wake up and realize this militaristic policy has been a failure on all fronts help me understand something though how just in that vein right if it's unethical if it's inhumane all the people are dying if it is bad for us uh security interests if it is bad for Israel's interests these are all the things you've just said why are we continuing with the status quo that's the million-dollar question right because there's been ample analysis coming from the field and this is public knowledge at this point from diplomats not just me but from multiple sources and even if beyond the US government I mean from every inter practically every single International Organization calling for a sustained ceasefire yet the Biden Administration and President Biden himself continues to insist on this policy our role as diplomats is to provide information to Washington that helps guide policy but clearly the foreign policy is being made elsewhere I fundamentally believe that our system domestically is has issues politicians should not be able to profit from war for example the people deciding whether or not we send military assistance to a foreign country should not be the ones also getting campaign contributions from the arms industry or from lobbying groups that represent foreign governments as a diplomat I have to to have I had to have an open book my life was a complete open book uh they know everything about us rightly so because we're serving the people we're serving the country we can't be making any profit off of our work personally we're doing everything we're doing for the country and for the people of the United States it should be the same for our politicians and as a diplomat I could not help be super frustrated with the realities of our domestic political process and its undue influence on our for policy speaking of policy uh internal criticism of US policy is not necessarily new in fact uh you've said before that uh robust discussion is what leads uh to change it's what keeps the wheels turning it's the norm uh with respect to the situation in Gaza however you've mentioned uh that officials are afraid to voice disagreement against the prevailing policy why is there a kind of climate of fear around this issue because it's coming from from the top down directly from the top down and when there's a situation like that which in my 18-year career has been unprecedented it's very difficult to shift things or even uh provide a contrarian analysis so when I voiced concern repeatedly I was silenced I was sidelined there were actions taken against me H it has a chilling effect what kind of actions were taken against you for for pushing back against US policy in Gaza I mean I was given an ultimatum get back on air or curtail which means uh leave the position that you're currently in go serve somewhere else or potentially resign uh a lot of people came to my support when that happened and tried to defend me and say no we we absolutely need you in the role that you're in we need this critical feedback and what you're providing the analysis from from the Arab world is going directly to senior levels the most senior levels of government and keep it up but at the same time not even our messaging posture was changing nothing was shifting uh so I I began to feel like I was enabling the policy even though I was refusing to do interviews because I was documenting the backlash that those interviews were generating on pan Arab media I still uh wasn't able to maintain in that role so when I hear about your ordeal when I hear about your resignation and the reason why uh I'm left to wonder and I know many people watching are left to wonder is it even possible to change US foreign policy in Israel uh from within look I don't want to be hopeless um we are seeing a lot of churn within the department clearly and and within the inter agency uh there was supposed to be a determination today from the Department to Congress whether or not Israel was violating human rights that submission has been delayed indefinitely which I wonder why but there is there are a lot of good people in the department trying to do good work and trying to push back on the administration um in ways that we're advocating for the United States at the end of the day that's our job we're advocating for us interests so what our role is is to help the secretary or the president make informed decisions and we're doing everything we can to do but at the end of the day they have they have to make the call and they have to take action not just change rhetoric hello R thank you so much for joining us and up front thank you so much Mark

Channel: Al Jazeera English

Views: 55,862

Keywords: Benjamin Netanyahu, Biden administration, Dissent, Gaza, Hala Rharrit, I voiced concern repeatedly, I was silenced ex US diplomat on Gaza, International law, International organisations, Israel, Joe Biden, Lobby groups, Marc Lamont Hill, Middle East, Palestine, Rafah, Secretary Blinken, State department, US Department of State, US foreign policy, UpFront, White House

Id: R-lzgse32Ug

Length: 9min 53sec (593 seconds)

Published: Fri May 10 2024