Obama feels the heat from Israel’s former employees

Barack Obama’s former staffers and political appointees don’t seem to think the Democrat is doing enough to promote peace on the planet.

On Friday, 133 of them shot at letter to the former president, imploring him to use his “leverage” with President Joe Biden and other elected officials to achieve an “immediate ceasefire” in Israel’s war with Hamas terrorists in Gaza.

“We feel deep pain and anger at the Israelis and Palestinians killed in recent weeks, and we condemn the vile acts against innocent civilians by Hamas and the Israeli government,” the Obama alumnus wrote. “We continue to call for the safe return of Israeli civilian hostages and imprisoned Palestinian civilians, and an immediate end to the collective punishment of all Palestinians.”

“At this critical and defining moment, we remember the oft-echoed words of Dr. King: ‘The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice,'” they continued. “You always asked us to be brave in raising our hands to help bend the bow to justice. Today we ask you to join us, to do the same.”

The nine-page letter continued:

As we witness the scale and speed of a worsening siege in Gaza, we implore you to muster the moral and political courage you instilled in us and use your influence to encourage President Biden and elected officials toward de-escalation, an immediate ceasefire and negotiate the return of the hostages through the international arena. We must demand that our government’s greatest ally, Israel, end its violations of international humanitarian law and the widespread massacre of Palestinians, half of whom are children. War crimes cannot be allowed to become an acceptable global response to war crimes.

Since the deplorable attacks by Hamas on October 7, which killed some 1,400 Israelis, it is incomprehensible how the US and Israel can justify a response of collective punishment to the Palestinians. A human catastrophe is unfolding. As of November 7, Israel has killed more than 10,300 Palestinians, at least 4,200 children. Thousands more, including 1,300 children, are still unaccounted for and believed to be buried under the rubble. At least 1.5 million Gazans have been displaced, with increasingly reduced access to food, water, electricity and fuel. Israel has attacked and destroyed at least 221 schools, more than 34 health centers, more than 177,000 homes, many churches and mosques, at least six refugee camps and critical infrastructure. The Palestinians are trapped with nowhere to escape. Israeli officials have dehumanized Palestinians as “human animals,” “children of darkness” and “the Amaleks” to justify their actions.

“These growing crimes against humanity as a means to security are short-sighted and a damaging miscalculation,” warned the signatories, who kept their names private. “They will export counter-responses.”

Although some of those who signed the letter fear “professional retaliation for their position,” they said The interception, “they hope that Obama will be receptive; despite his checkered history in the Middle East, he has historically been more open than most other American politicians to the Palestinian cause.”

“President Obama, we joined your campaign and administration because we believe in your vision of the world: one of inclusion, respect, humanity, justice and hope,” the letter reads. “We believe in the inherent value of every human life. We were inspired by the courage you showed in your demands on our allies as we worked for a more just and equitable world.”

“It is these values ​​that compel us to unite and implore you to call for an immediate end to this humanitarian catastrophe,” they said.

Former deputy director of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans, Khalilah Harris, told The Intercept that she signed the letter because “there can be no silence in the pursuit of peace and justice”.

Valentina Pereda, the former deputy director of Hispanic media at the White House, told the press that “complacency and fear” have replaced the inspiring “spirit” that Obama created as president.

“I joined and dedicated my youth to the Obama/Biden administration because of the courage that inspired me. At the root of all of President Obama’s speeches was courage and justice,” he said. “It seemed that the spirit of courage had been replaced by one of complacency and fear. I don’t want to live my life like that.”

Obama, for his part, recently urged his former staffers to maintain “what on the surface may appear to be conflicting ideas.”

“What Hamas did was horrific and there was no justification,” he told a staff meeting last week. “And what is also true is that the occupation, and what is happening to the Palestinians, is unbearable.”

“You have to admit that we are all complicit to some extent,” he added.

It’s clear that Obama’s former staffers still see him as their “moral compass.”

“We need your ally, no longer as a politician, but as the moral compass we seek, to advocate for a ceasefire and for humanity to prevail,” the letter said. “We cannot be spectators to a historic collapse of empathy.”

“Obama’s alumni letter joins a growing tide of voices opposing unconditional U.S. support for Israel,” The Intercept reports. “More than a dozen former campaign staffers for Sen. John Fetterman, 411 current congressional staffers, more than 400 current Biden administration staffers, more than 500 former Biden campaign alumni, and 260 former members of Elizabeth Warren’s presidential campaign staff issued statements calling for support for a ceasefire (and more have since signed).”

“We only live once on earth,” Obama’s former staffers reminded him. “And what we do with that time and space is what we are responsible for.”

“It is our legacy and our duty to the generations that follow. And although history does not move in a straight line, we have the option of choosing where we stand”, they affirmed. “No matter the risks, we choose to stand on the right side of history, for justice and humanity. This is a pivotal moment in history. Please stand with us.”

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Melissa Fine is the former executive editor of Casino Player, Strictly Slots and Poker
Digest magazines. She’s a UCLA grad, news junkie, and dedicated Stargate SG-
1 fan Currently, Melissa lives with her dog and two cats in a small town in the Sierra
Nevada foothills.

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