Hundreds of former campaign staffers for President Biden penned a letter to the president calling for a cease-fire in Gaza.
The letter from a group called Biden Alumni for Peace and Justice includes the names of people who worked for Biden for President/Victory 2020 HQ, the Democratic National Committee and state organizations.
“We implore you, President Biden, to live that moral courage right now by stepping up to be a leader we can be proud of in the face of injustice,” the group wrote. “As President of the United States, you have significant influence in this perilous moment — you must call for a ceasefire, hostage exchange, and de-escalation and take concrete steps to address the conditions of occupation, apartheid, and ethnic cleansing at the root of the horrific violence we are witnessing now.”
Noting they continue to be “horrified” by the Hamas attacks, the group said they cannot condemn one act of violence while “justifying and enabling it for others.”
The group said they were “shocked and saddened” after Biden’s comments last month when he said he believed innocent people had been killed in Gaza but that it was the “price of waging a war,” prompting criticism from Muslim and Arab groups.
The letter concludes: “If you fail to act swiftly, your legacy will be complicity in the face of genocide.”
The letter was first reported by Vox.
Fighting has raged in Gaza for more than a month following Hamas’s violent incursion into Israel that killed more than 1,400 people in their homes, at a bus stop and at a music festival. In response, Israel bombarded Gaza, which is controlled by Hamas.
That has led to more than 10,000 deaths, according to the Hamas-ruled Gaza Health Ministry. About 2 million Palestinians live in the territory.
Shortly after Hamas’s initial attacks on Oct. 7, Biden offered the U.S.’s “unwavering support,” to Israel in its fight against Hamas, with the U.S. sending multiple carrier strike groups to “deter” the escalation of the conflict and Biden himself traveling to Tel Aviv to meet with Israeli leaders and families.
As the death toll in Gaza began to increase, Biden and White House officials faced growing pressure to advocate for at least a temporary cease-fire for the sake of civilians. Biden and the White House have voiced their support in the past week for a humanitarian pause that would include a temporary, “localized” break in fighting that would permit aid to get into Gaza or civilians to get out.
U.S. officials have so far been unsuccessful in convincing Israel to agree to the humanitarian pause and Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu said earlier this week there will be “no cease-fire” in attacks on Gaza without the release of hostages.
Israel on Thursday, however, agreed to pause military operations in Gaza for at least four hours at different times to allow for the evacuation of civilians from the conflict zone.