The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today thanked a U.S. State Department official working on human rights issues in the Middle East who resigned in protest of U.S. support for the far-right Israeli government’s genocide in Gaza.
Annelle Sheline resigned as a foreign affairs officer in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor. She told the Washington Post that her focus on promoting human rights in the Middle East and North Africa was harmed by Israel’s war. She ultimately concluded that internal dissent was pointless “as long as the U.S. continues to send a steady stream of weapons to Israel.” She said: “Trying to advocate for human rights just became impossible.”
In a CNN commentary, she wrote: “Whatever credibility the United States had as an advocate for human rights has almost entirely vanished since the war began.”
Opinion: Why I’m resigning from the State Department – CNN
“We thank Ms. Sheline for her courageous and principled stance in defense of human rights for all people, including Palestinians,” said CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad. “It is the decades-long denial of the humanity of the Palestinians that has resulted in this tragic situation in which our nation is complicit in genocide, ethnic cleansing and forced starvation of entire populations.”
Awad added that earlier today, CAIR said that a new Gallup poll revealing that a majority of Americans disapprove of Israel’s military actions in Gaza represents the latest “wake-up call” for President Biden to call for an immediate ceasefire and hold Israeli officials to account for crimes against humanity in Gaza.
He noted that yesterday, CAIR said a report by the UN Special Rapporteur on Palestine stating there are “reasonable grounds” to assert that the far-right Israeli government is engaged in a genocide in Gaza should spur international action for a permanent ceasefire and justice for the Palestinian people.
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CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, rmccaw@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com, CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, iallison@cair.com