#Anelle Sheline

[theivorybilledwoodpecker]

“The United States government has run out of words and hasn’t even issued its usual performative statements to comment on the UN suspension of its aid operations in Gaza,” said Raed Jarrar, the advocacy director at Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN), a human rights nonprofit based in Washington, DC. ... But Annelle Sheline, an analyst at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, said it was particularly worrying that the Biden administration avoided publicly scrutinising the way Israel restricts aid distribution. Sheline recently resigned from the US State Department in protest of the administration’s policies towards the Gaza war. "Obviously, the Biden administration has, in the past, made statements that it refuses to back up with any action,” she said. “That’s clearly problematic, but arguably, it is even worse to not even say anything or acknowledge or at least call out the ways that Israel is blocking aid.” She posited the silence could be a reflection of the US “not wanting to show any daylight” with Israel — a phrase used to symbolise the two countries’ historically close relationship. In the silence, Sheline saw evidence of a “doubling down” on the US support for Israel, regardless of the violations committed against aid workers.

[soon-palestine]

A US State Department official resigns in protest against American support for the Israeli genocide