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
Al Mayadeen correspondent: The US vetoed a UNSC resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, arguing it does not condemn Hamas nor grant "Israel" the right to “self-defense.”
Israeli occupation forces issue a new bombing threat against civilian buildings in the Southern Lebanese towns of Borj Qalaouiye and Chehabiyeh.
Sources to Al Mayadeen: Extending the snapback mechanism deadline will test how independent Europeans truly are from the US.
Sources to Al Mayadeen: Activating the snapback mechanism will nullify the Cairo Agreement, shut the door on cooperation between the IAEA and Tehran, and bar inspections.
Sources to Al Mayadeen: The diplomatic window remains open, but signs of activating the snapback sanctions mechanism on Iran are increasing.
Sources to Al Mayadeen: Although the Cairo Agreement meets an important part of European demands, they have begun speaking of new conditions in recent communications.
Sources to Al Mayadeen: European countries show no independence in their stance toward Iran during the talks.
Israeli occupation forces issued bombing threats to bomb civilian buildings in Southern Lebanon.
Israeli media: Person behind shooting operation at Allenby Crossing is a Jordanian Army soldier.
Israeli media citing Emergency Services: Both wounded in Allenby shooting operation now dead.

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

US Veto blocks UN Security Council Gaza ceasefire resolution

White House drafts order on political violence after Kirk killing

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

Why is Choose Love using a firm with British and US intelligence connections to run a pro-Palestine musical event? (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Batoul Chamas)

Together for Palestine: Troubling questions about the organisers of this huge event

  • Opinion
  • 17 Sep 2025
Uprising against Volker Turk at the Human Rights Council over Gaza.

Uprising against Volker Turk at the Human Rights Council over Gaza

  • Politics
  • 12 Sep 2025
Lapid: Egypt’s Arab Force plan a 'severe blow' to normalization

Lapid: Egypt’s Arab Force plan a 'severe blow' to normalization

  • Palestine
  • 14 Sep 2025
UKLFI’s latest faux pas, like "Israel’s" recent failed attempt at regime change in Iran, is unambiguously indicative of a flailing entity on the verge of extinction. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Zeinab el-Hajj)

Zionist lawfare operation facing collapse?

  • Opinion
  • 13 Sep 2025

Coverage

All
The Ummah's Martyrs

Read Next

All
A Hezbollah supporter who lost his sight in a pager attack carried out by "Israel" on Sept. 17, 2024, covers his eyes with a red headband inscribed with the name "Hussein" during Ashoura, July 6, 2025 (AP)
Politics

'We Have Recovered': Lebanon marks 1st anniversary of Pager Attack

The Arab neighborhood of El Za'im, on the outskirts of east Occupied Al-Quds in the West Bank, near where Israeli government says housing units will be built as part of the E1 settlement project, Thursday, August 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Palestine

'Israel’s' deliberate policies drive West Bank economy toward collapse

Ben & Jerry's ice cream shop, Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025, in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Politics

Ben & Jerry’s co-founder resigns over parent company curbing activism

Trump’s approval rating falls to new low in second term: Poll
US & Canada

Trump’s approval rating falls to new low in second term: Poll

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