A senior official in the U.S. Department of Education has resigned to protest the Biden administration’s support for Israel’s war on Gaza. Tariq Habash, who is a Palestinian American Christian and a Biden appointee, wrote in his resignation letter, “I cannot stay silent as this administration turns a blind eye to the atrocities committed against innocent Palestinian lives, in what leading human rights experts have called a genocidal campaign by the Israeli government.”

Tariq Habash appeared on CNN on Wednesday night.

Tariq Habash: “There are people throughout the government, throughout this administration, who have repeatedly tried to use every avenue available to them to raise concerns, because they care about this country, they care about this president, and they care about our democracy. And I think what the president is doing by ignoring the will of the people and by ignoring all of these individuals who have continuously supported his agenda, I think it’s undermining our democratic ideals, and it’s undermining America.”

In related news, 17 current staffers on Biden’s reelection campaign have anonymously signed a letter urging the president to support a ceasefire in Gaza. They wrote, “Complicity in the death of over 20,000 Palestinians, 8,200 of whom are children, simply cannot be justified.”