Resignation of U.S. Educational Official Due to Biden's Handling of Gaza Conflict

A senior official in the U.S. Department of Education resigned yesterday, Wednesday, due to President Joe Biden's handling of the conflict in Gaza, marking the latest indication of divisions within the U.S. government as the death toll in the war continues to rise. Seventeen members of Biden's campaign issued a warning in an unsigned letter yesterday that Biden could lose votes over this issue. Tarek Habash, a special assistant in the Office of Planning, Evaluation, and Policy Development at the Department of Education, stated in a letter to Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, "I cannot remain silent while this administration ignores the atrocities being committed against innocent Palestinians, which leading human rights experts have described as a genocide being carried out by the Israeli government." Habash, a Palestinian-American and an expert in student loans, was appointed at the beginning of Biden's term. The anonymous members of Biden's campaign urged him in the letter published on Medium to call for a ceasefire in Gaza. The Biden campaign has not yet responded to a request for comment.