Tariq Habash, Biden appointee, resigns over president's response Gaza war

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Tariq Habash, a Biden administration appointee at the U.S. Department of Education has resigned in response to the president’s handling of the war in Gaza.

"I cannot represent an administration that systematically dehumanizes Palestinians and enables their ethnic cleansing," Habash said on X (formerly Twitter). "The President must call for a permanent ceasefire."

Habash, who had worked in the education department to help overhaul the student loan system and address inequities in higher education, told The Associated Press he submitted his resignation Wednesday. That was after he and others had "done everything imaginable" to work within the system to try to register their objections to administration leaders, he said.

US President Joe Biden is welcomed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) at the Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, Israel on October 18, 2023. (Photo by GPO/ Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)

"I joined the Biden administration … to fight for a more just America, to fix the broken student loan system by providing relief to millions of Americans, and to address systemic inequities across higher education that disproportionately affect underserved students and families," Habash said in his resignation letter. "I actively campaigned for the President, helping to shape his platform on education, consumer finance and racial justice.

"But now, the actions of the Biden-Harris administration have put millions of innocent lives in danger, most immediately for the 2.3 million Palestinian civilians living in Gaza who remain under continuous assault and ethnic cleansing by the Israeli government," he continued.

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Habash had been among the administration staffers of Middle East, Muslim and Jewish background taking part in meetings with senior White House officials and others in the administration in response to staffers' concerns on the U.S. role in the war. Habash on Wednesday described the sessions as more briefings from higher-ups than opportunity for staffers to be heard.

State Department veteran Josh Paul stepped down in October as the administration accelerated arms transfers to Israel.

Hamas’s Oct. 7 attacks killed 1,200 people in Israel. More than 22,000 people have died since Israel launched its offensive in Gaza.

Smoke rises over buildings following the Israeli attacks on Khan Yunis, Gaza on January 04, 2024. (Photo by Abed Rahim Khatib/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Biden and his top officials have defended Israel's devastating air and ground campaign in Gaza as Israel's rightful self-defense against Hamas. They point to their repeated urging to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government to change how it is fighting the war so as to lessen deaths among Palestinian civilians.

"Let me be clear: anti-semitism, anti-Palestinian sentiment, and Islamophobia are all abhorrent. We must not allow hate in any form to permeate our society, schools, or life," Habib wrote in his resignation letter. "Attributing the actions of Israel to all Jewish people makes them inherently less safe. Similarly, conflating all Palestinians with Hamas, something Israeli government officials have continuously attempted to do, makes Palestinians and Muslims everywhere less safe."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.