A career State Department official resigned from her post on Tuesday, saying she could no longer work for the Biden administration after it released a report concluding that Israel was not preventing the flow of aid to Gaza.

Stacy Gilbert, who served as a senior civilian-military advisor to the State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (PRM), sent an email to staff saying she was resigning because she felt the State Department had made the wrong assessment, The Washington Post reported, citing officials who read the note.

The report was filed in response to President Joe Biden issuing a national security memorandum (NSM-20) in early February on whether the administration finds credible Israel’s assurances that its use of US weapons do not violate either American or international law.

The report said there were reasonable grounds to believe Israel on several occasions had used American-supplied weapons “inconsistent” with international humanitarian law, but said it could not make a definitive assessment - enough to prevent the suspension of arms transfers.

  • Voroxpete@sh.itjust.works
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    6 months ago

    Voting is when you get to choose your opponent. Would you rather oppose the Democrats, who are clearly at least somewhat divided on the subject of Palestine, or the Republicans, whose only division is between “Bomb them” and “Nuke them”?

    You’re not endorsing a government by voting for it. You’re just arranging the playing field in the way that is most tactically advantageous to you.

    • bloodfart
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      6 months ago

      I’m not voting for either. The party for socialism and liberation has a platform of Palestinian statehood and an end to weapons shipments to israel among many other positions I align with.

      My support for this party gives them material benefits and makes my position clear in no uncertain terms that the platforms of both democrats and republicans are unacceptable.

      • Weslee@lemmy.world
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        6 months ago

        Doesn’t work that way sweetie, fptp means if you don’t vote for one of the two major parties, then you’re essentially voting for their opponents.

        If you usually vote democrats, and don’t do it this time, you’re voting for republican by weakening the democrats.

        • bloodfart
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          6 months ago

          If it worked like that then my third party vote would both count as a vote against trump and as a vote against Biden and they would cancel out.

          Of course, it doesn’t work like that because when votes are tallied my third party vote doesn’t get put in either major parties’ total.

          I haven’t voted for a democrat in sixteen years.

          • Weslee@lemmy.world
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            6 months ago

            If you aren’t a regular voter for either the 2 primary parties, then I’m sorry to say your vote literally doesn’t matter.

            • bloodfart
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              6 months ago

              How can my vote not matter when it’s counted?

              I get how for certain seats like senators whose power isn’t proportional to the population they represent my vote may have more or less power than someone from a less or more populous state, but within my own district how does my vote not matter because I haven’t been voting for major parties?

              • Weslee@lemmy.world
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                6 months ago

                Well we’re talking about the presidential election here, but out of curiosity - Has your party won anything inside or outside of your district in the 16 years you’ve been voting for them?

                • bloodfart
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                  6 months ago

                  I’ve voted for lots of candidates with different party affiliations and plenty have won, yes.

                  Some at the local level were democrat affiliated, but none at the state or higher level and as you said, we’re talking about the presidential race here, so it didn’t seem like a misleading claim.

                  Do you think winning the seat is all that matters or is there space for base building, policy injection or other electoral strategies in your assessment?