In letter to Homeland Security chief, 139 staffers slam lack of support for Palestinians in Gaza

Nearly 140 staffers from the United States Department of Homeland Security have denounced the DHS over its lack of support for Palestinians in the war-torn Gaza Strip, which has been under intense bombardment by the Israel regime for more than two months.

In an open letter addressed to Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, the employees of the DHS expressed their strong dissatisfaction with the “palpable, glaring absence in the Department’s messaging” of “recognition, support, and mourning” for thousands of Palestinians killed in the tightly-blockaded territory, Al Jazeera English news channel reported on Wednesday.

“The grave humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the conditions in the West Bank are circumstances that the Department would generally respond to in various ways. Yet DHS leadership has seemingly turned a blind eye to the bombing of refugee camps, hospitals, ambulances, and civilians,” said the letter, dated November 22.

Israel waged the war on Gaza on October 7 after the Palestinian Hamas resistance group carried out the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the occupying entity in response to the Israeli regime’s atrocities against Palestinians.

More than 18,600 Palestinians have been killed, including more than 7,000 children, and more than 50,100 others injured since the onset of the current US-backed war on Gaza.

According to Al Jazeera, the letter’s signatories include 139 staff members from DHS and the agencies it manages, like Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

The letter noted that some employees “elected to sign this letter anonymously” for fear of backlash, calling on the department to “provide a fair and balanced representation of the situation, and allow for respectful expression without the fear of professional repercussions.”

Biden administration staffers call for Gaza ceasefire at vigil outside White House

Biden administration staffers and political appointees have held a vigil in front of the White House, calling for a permanent ceasefire to end the Israeli regime’s months-long devastating war on the Gaza Strip.

The document is the latest indication of rifts within the administration of US President Joe Biden, who is under fire for his administration's stance on Israel’s brutal war in the impoverished Palestinian sliver.

Separately on Wednesday, more than three dozen people, including political appointees, administration staffers and civil service career staff, gathered in front of the White House to attend the early evening vigil, calling for a permanent ceasefire to end the Israeli regime’s months-long devastating war on the Gaza Strip.

Last month, more than 800 federal employees and independent agency staffers signed a letter, demanding Biden’s urgent support for a ceasefire and immediate de-escalation of violence in Gaza.

Since the start of the war in Gaza, the US has ramped up military aid to Israel. On October 20, the White House asked the Senate to scrap the restrictions on Israel’s access to weapons from a crucial US stockpile in its latest supplementary budget request.

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