A career civil servant described tension between their commitment to challenging rights abuses and their job.
“I’m trying to educate people about Palestine through social media, but I’m worried I’ll lose my security clearance for criticizing the president or blaming the U.S. for civilian massacre,” they told HuffPost. “I feel like there’s no place for me in America anymore, and I’m on thin ice with my clearance because of my heritage and because I care about my people dying.”
The seemingly stifled internal debate undercuts Biden’s narrative that his administration is historically diverse and open to perspectives from traditionally marginalized groups, including on questions of global affairs.
Try to put yourself in their shoes for a moment:
Imagine it was YOUR people, even FAMILY members of yours being systematically slaughtered and displaced in what amounts to ethnic cleansing. Imagine that your employer is actively siding with the government trying to eradicate your people and you’re not even allowed to criticise that stance.
Would YOU be fine with just meekly resigning from what might otherwise be your dream job, not certain where your next rent check would come from? Or would you speak up and, failing that, want others to speak up for you?
So now you try to play heart strings. The US has supported Isreal since there was one. If you think that will somehow change because you got a job with the government…if you think you, as a regular government employee will change that policy…then you may not be smart enough for your position to begin with.
No, I thought I might get you to see it more clearly if you imagined it happening to you. Less abstract that wa. Guess I didn’t account for you having zero empathy AND no imagination/understanding.
Holy sunk cost fallacy, Batman! Just because the US government has had a long history of defending Netanyahu and other far right warn criminals doesn’t mean that continuing to do so is a good idea or even not reprehensible. You know that they’re denying the millions of Palestinians in Gaza food, water and medicine too, now? Does that sound like a good thing to support to you? Something we need to make sure someone gets away with?
That’s not what anyone except you is saying, though. They’re not asking to dictate policy. They’re just not overly thrilled by being censored and met with hostility for not seeing eye to eye with it.
If you don’t get that by now
for this conversation to be worth any more time and effort. Have the day you deserve.
Well, I could try to get you to imagine your family getting murdered in front of you by Hamas. But, I realize it would not affect you and it is not salient to the discussion.
Much longer than that. Since 1948.
Since they are not wanting to dictate policy, they have to live with it. They are not being censored. Read the article.