Biden Campaign Staff Call for Ceasefire Now
The Biden Administration’s “response to Israel’s indiscriminate bombing in Gaza has been fundamentally antithetical” to the values of justice, empathy, and the dignity of human life, says a letter signed by 17 anonymous staffers of Joe Biden’s re-election campaign. “[A]nd we believe it could cost you the 2024 election.”
The staffers call on Biden to take five actions: bringing about “an immediate, permanent ceasefire,” advocating for the release of hostages and political prisoners, ending “unconditional military aid to Israel,” investigating whether Israel’s actions violated the Leahy Law against funding groups committing human rights violations, and acting to “end the conditions of apartheid, occupation, and ethnic cleansing that are the root causes of this conflict.”
“You have said numerous times that silence in the face of human rights violations is complicity,” they challenge the President. “We agree, which is why we are speaking out now.”
They report that “Biden for President staff have seen volunteers quit in droves, and people who have voted blue for decades feel uncertain about doing so for the first time ever.”
They urge the President to “listen to the two-thirds of the country and three-quarters of our fellow Democrats who support a ceasefire.”
Politico says that it has spoken with five of the seventeen signers to confirm the authenticity of the letter.
This letter follows the October 19 letter from Muslim and Jewish Capitol Hill staffers, the November 8 letter by more than 500 named staff members of the Democratic Party and Biden’s 2020 campaign (which serves as a model for the January 3 letter), and the November 14 letter signed by 500 political appointees and staff members from 40 government agencies protesting Biden’s support for Israel’s deadly policy.