Josh Paul, who until Wednesday served as director of congressional and public affairs at the State Department’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, handling arms transfers, announced his resignation because the Biden administration continues to send weapons and ammunition to Israel even though it refuses to allow Hamas Nazi agents to go on terrorizing its citizens but hammers them instead with US-made warplanes.
Or as the 11-year high-ranking government employee put it: “Today I informed my colleagues that I have resigned from the State Department, due to a policy disagreement concerning our continued lethal assistance to Israel.”
“We cannot be both against occupation and for it. We cannot be both for freedom and against it. And we cannot be for a better world while contributing to one that is materially worse,” Paul wrote, adding, “Rushing more arms to one side of the conflict, I believe to be shortsighted, destructive, unjust & contradictory to the very values that we publicly espouse.”
“The response Israel is taking, and with it the American support both for that response and for the status quo of the occupation, will only lead to more and deeper suffering for both the Israeli and the Palestinian people,” he wrote, saying, “I fear we are repeating the same mistakes we have made these past decades, and I decline to be a part of it for longer.”
The former State Dept. official then performs some grueling mental and moral gymnastics using the kind of logic that was used by the US government when it refused entry to the good ship St. Louis with its German Jewish passengers on the run from their Nazi tormentors, or the same government’s decision not to bomb the railroad tracks to Auschwitz:
He then added this exhilarating message: “Just a quick note to say how overwhelmed I’ve been by the kind words of support from so many friends (old and new), and how particularly moving are some of the messages I’ve received from (former) colleagues and, especially, from people with roots or family in Gaza and in Israel. I will make every effort to reply to everyone who has messaged me, but please bear with me as there are so many of you.”
Let’s hope more morally bankrupt State Dept. officials jump off this train, and a hearty good riddance to one and all.
