The Spin on Gaza

"Tariq Habash could not eat, and later he could not sleep. It was October 7, 2023, and like many Palestinian Americans, his horror at the violence committed by Hamas that day was quickly met by fear - frenetic and queasy - about Israel's certain retaliation. Collective punishment had been the country's de facto policy in Gaza for years; now it had suffered the greatest loss of civilian life since its founding, and its belligerent leader, Benjamin Netanyahu, had been humiliated."

"On Monday, he went to work - at the United States Department of Education - the lone Palestinian appointee in the agency. He'd spent the previous three years working 12-hour days trying to make American education more affordable. Over the next few weeks, he watched as Israel bombed every university in Gaza and most of its schools. He checked in as often as he could with his extended family in the West Bank and scoured the names of the dead."

"In January 2024, Habash became the second Biden official, and the first political appointee, to resign in protest over the administration's Gaza policy. A year and a half later, as famine has gripped the enclave, top Biden officials have finally begun to acknowledge the catastrophe - but not their own role in its orchestration. Some, such as former State Department spokesman Matt Miller, say they were previously hamstrung in what they could admit in public."

Tariq Habash experienced acute fear and grief after October 7, 2023, anticipating Israeli retaliation. He served as the lone Palestinian political appointee at the U.S. Department of Education and had worked long hours to make American education more affordable. He witnessed Israeli strikes on Gaza universities and many schools, checked on extended family in the West Bank, and monitored casualty lists. He attended White House listening sessions, declined counseling, and demanded an end to U.S.-enabled bombing. He resigned in January 2024 in protest over Biden administration Gaza policy. Months later famine overtook Gaza while some officials acknowledged constraints on public statements.

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