Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Palestinian platforms: Settlers storm Al-Aqsa Mosque complex under the protection of the occupation police
Palestinian platforms: The IOF detonated a booby-trapped robot east of the al-Zaytoun neighborhood, south of Gaza City
Syrian Defense: We call on all parties in Sweida to cooperate with security forces and exercise restraint
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: The Lebanese Army is continuing its investigations and will later announce any information that does not affect the confidentiality of the investigation
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: It has not yet been determined whether the detainees belong to ISIS or another organization
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: Around 10 people of different nationalities, including Lebanese nationals, were detained
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: The Lebanese army arrested a number of people in the Matn area of Mount Lebanon with possession it has not disclosed
Gaza Civil Defense spokesman: We have strong indications that there are martyrs, injuries, and trapped people in the Salah al-Din area
Gaza Civil Defense spokesman: Citizens should avoid Salah al-Din Street because anyone who approaches it is at risk of being directly targeted
Gaza Civil Defense spokesman: Reality is that there is a very limited retreat of the vehicles, with the occupation forces providing cover undeer fire up to Salah al-Din Street

Over 250 ex-staff send letter to Biden, Obama demanding ceasefire

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: HuffPost
  • 1 May 2024 15:36
  • 3 Shares
4 Min Read

Obama is being urged to use his influence to back a cease-fire and simultaneously advise Biden to suspend military aid to "Israel" while recognizing Palestine as a member state of the United Nations.

  • x
  • President Joe Biden and former President Barack Obama, followed by first lady Jill Biden and former first lady Michelle Obama, in the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2022 (AP)
    President Joe Biden and former President Barack Obama, followed by first lady Jill Biden and former first lady Michelle Obama, in the White House in Washington, on September 7, 2022. (AP)

Over 250 former staffers in the Obama-Biden administration penned a letter to former bosses Barack Obama and Joe Biden on Tuesday, demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and calling for the end of the US' unconditional support for "Israel". 

Around 170 former staffers, alumni, interns, and campaign directors signed their names in the letter but 80 others remained anonymous out of fear of retaliation.

“We are writing to you together because we see you both as our leaders with tremendous influence over the fate of Palestinians and our democratic society here in America. We implore you both to lead now before our democracy and the world backslide further into war and authoritarianism,” the letter says.

“The US is a lone pariah standing on the wrong side of history,” it added.

In the letter, Obama was urged to use his influence to back a cease-fire and simultaneously advise Biden to suspend military aid to "Israel" and amp up sanctions, while recognizing Palestine as a member state of the United Nations.

Read more: Internal US memo suggests 'Israel' violating int'l law: Reuters

Rumana Ahmed, a former White House staffer who worked for six years during Obama's presidency as senior adviser to the deputy national security adviser, told HuffPost that some of the signatories feel betrayed by the duo. 
 
“So many of us have given our careers and spent so many years working for them,” said Ahmed, who also worked on the Biden-Harris (Kamala Harris) team in the 2020 elections. 

“For all of us who have been super hopeful, and we’re still waiting and we’re still being hopeful for the administration to shift the policy, .... instead we’re being dismissed,” she continued.

Related News

Trump approves Patriot missiles to Ukraine, bills EU for costs

Russia slams US-Denmark military pact as threat to its security

Watching in silence

Valentina Pereda, the 2015 deputy director of Hispanic media at the White House and one of the letter's authors expressed: “Speaking out against institutions of power, especially if you come from those institutions, takes a lot of courage”. 

“A lot of people are putting a lot of our personal lives or financial lives on the line to speak out on this, but what I want people to understand is that, no matter what, you have to have the courage to speak up, no matter how uncomfortable,” she added.

Meanwhile, Sarah Eckhouse, a former Ohio campaign field organizer and a staffer in the White House Office of Legislative Affairs, stated that she felt compelled to voice her concern due to years of service and for her grandmother, a Holocaust survivor who arrived in the US in 1939.

“When Jews say ‘Never again,’ it cannot be only for Jews that it is never again, it must be for all people,” she said. “How could we watch this being inflicted on another population and not say something?”

“It’s very hard for me to understand how we can continue, as a government policy, to allow this when we have the ability to do something,” she said.

In January, numerous former White House interns wrote an open letter to Biden, urging his administration to support a quick ceasefire in Gaza.

Read next: Gaza war looms over White House Correspondents' dinner

According to The Guardian, the signatories, who include interns who worked in the White House and executive office of the president between 2022 and the summer of 2023, accused the President of "betraying" his vow to achieve equality and justice by backing "Israel's" war on Gaza.

The letter reads that Biden is calling on the young to “lead through the world’s most pressing challenges," detailing how “our voices are ignored as our generation speaks in solidarity with the majority of Americans and the world, underscoring the contrast between the values we embraced together and the actions we now witness.”

  • United States
  • Gaza Strip
  • Palestine
  • Barack Obama
  • Joe Biden
  • white house
War on Gaza

War on Gaza

Most Read

Hezbollah SG reveals war details on Al Mayadeen for the first time

Hezbollah SG reveals war details on Al Mayadeen for the first time

  • Politics
  • 8 Jul 2025
Major ambush in Gaza kills 6 Israeli troops, injures dozens

Major ambush in Gaza kills 5 Israeli troops, injures 14

  • Politics
  • 8 Jul 2025
Israeli soldiers are seen in Beit Hanoun ahead of an operation by the al-Qassam Brigades, undated (Al-Qassam Brigades Military Media)

'Israel' on blast as media exposes report discrepancies in Gaza ambush

  • Palestine
  • 8 Jul 2025
Yemen Navy sinks ETERNITY C ship, shares footage of operation

Yemen Navy sinks ETERNITY C ship, shares footage of operation

  • Politics
  • 9 Jul 2025

Coverage

All
The Ummah's Martyrs

Read Next

All
The Freedom Flotilla ship Handala as it departs for Gaza, where it aims to break the maritime blockade at a port in Syracuse, Sicily in southern Italy on July 13, 2025. (AFP)
Palestine

Freedom Flotilla's Handala departs Sicily in bid to break Gaza siege

The container ship CMA CGM Laperouse, left, docks at the Georgia Ports Authority's Port of Savannah, Sept. 29, 2021, in Savannah, Ga (AP)
Politics

US shipbuilding woes deepen as tariffs, outdated policies backfire

Gaza war raises ethical questions for ex-Obama, Biden officials
Politics

Mercenary firm tied to Gaza war crimes hires Obama-Biden PR operatives

'Israel' targets children in Gaza collecting water
Palestine

'Israel' strikes Gaza kids fetching water, blames it on 'malfunction'

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS