Washington DC – More than 500 former campaign workers who helped elect Joe Biden in 2020 have called on the US president to work for a ceasefire in Gaza and end the violence that has killed more than of 10,800 Palestinians.
The letter released Thursday adds to growing calls from sources close to the Biden administration for an end to the war.
“As President of the United States, you have significant influence at this perilous moment,” said the letter, first reported by Vox.
“You must call for a ceasefire, hostage exchange and de-escalation, and take concrete steps to address the conditions of occupation, apartheid and ethnic cleansing that are causing the horrific violence we are currently witnessing. »
While the Biden administration and Congress remain steadfast in their support for Israel, staffers, grassroots organizations and activists are expressing growing opposition to the war.
The American Postal Workers Union, which represents U.S. Postal Service employees, also supported calls for a ceasefire on Thursday.
“We call on our government, which is the main foreign benefactor of the Israeli government, to use all its power to protect innocent lives and help bring peace to the region, and not to use our tax money to continue the war,” the union said. said in a statement.
“We join calls for an immediate ceasefire, the release of hostages and massive and urgent humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza. The cries of humanity demand nothing less.
Growing calls
Both statements follow earlier efforts within the government to push for an end to hostilities.
Last week, employees of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) circulated a letter calling for an immediate ceasefire, and by Wednesday it had exceeded 1,000 signatures.
Hundreds of members of Congress also staged a strike Wednesday to demand an end to the war.
Thursday’s letter from people who worked on Biden’s campaign highlighted the growing death toll in Gaza and the mass displacement of residents in the northern part of the territory, noting that scholars have raised alarms about the risk of genocide in the conflict.
Democratic aides also said they were “horrified by Hamas’ devastating attack on Israeli civilians on October 7.”
UN agencies and rights groups have also called for a ceasefire, with UN chief Antonio Guterres warning that Gaza is becoming a “graveyard for children”.
But early Thursday, Biden ruled out any definitive end to the conflict. When asked by reporters about the possibility of a ceasefire in Gaza, the US president replied: “None, no possibility.”
Biden has expressed unconditional support for Israel and called for more than $14 billion in additional aid for the country since the Gaza war began on October 7, angering American progressives, Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims.
Last month, the US president sparked outrage among Palestinian rights supporters when he questioned Gaza’s death toll, saying he had “no confidence in the number the Palestinians are using.” .
Rights experts and fact-checkers defended the figures, released by the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza, based on hospital and morgue records. They explained that in previous conflicts, the Health Ministry’s figures matched the findings of independent researchers.
A senior State Department official also said Wednesday that the true number of Palestinian deaths could be even higher than official figures.
“In this time of conflict and war, it is very difficult for any of us to assess the number of casualties,” Barbara Leaf, US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, told parliamentarians. “Frankly, we think they are very high – and they may be even higher than what is being quoted.”
The Health Ministry also said its current statistics do not account for people left under rubble or buried without being registered.
“His legacy will be genocide”
When Biden ran for president, his supporters often described him as an “honest” man aiming to restore unity to the United States after Donald Trump’s presidency.
Biden suffered personal heartbreak during his life, having lost his wife and young daughter in a car accident in 1972 and his son Beau, a politician and Army veteran, to cancer in 2015.
The campaign members’ statement criticized the US president for appearing to downplay – or even downplay – civilian casualties in Gaza.
“Mr. President, you have spoken intimately about the unbearable pain and grief associated with the loss of a child,” the letter said. “We were shocked and saddened to see you justify the deaths of Palestinian children as “the price of waging war.”
Biden made the comment while questioning the Palestinian death toll on October 25, during an appearance before reporters at the White House. “I am sure that innocent people were killed, and that is the price of waging war,” he said.
As the US president faces pressure from his own base, his approval rating among Democrats is plummeting. He also sees a considerable drop in support within Arab communities.
A recent New York Times poll showed Biden losing to Trump – the likely Republican nominee for the 2024 race – in five key states: Nevada, Georgia, Arizona, Pennsylvania and Michigan.
Heba Mohammad, a Palestinian American staffer who worked for the Biden campaign in another swing state, Wisconsin, warned that the carnage in Gaza could become what people remember him for.
“President Biden has the ability and responsibility to save lives and reduce human suffering,” she said in a statement accompanying the letter. “If he does not act quickly, his legacy will be genocide.”