Earlier in April, Rharrit resigned from the position of Arabic Language Spokesperson for the State Department and the Dubai Regional Media Hub’s Deputy Director in protest of the US policy in Gaza and support for limitless supply of arms to Israel, according to the State Department. She joined the States Department in 2006 as a political officer.
In Hala’s view, inside today’s State Department, diplomats are afraid to express their viewpoints contrary to official policy despite Secretary of State Antony Blinken stating that welcomes conflicting views and reads the cables that come through the department’s official dissent channel, the report said.
“People are scared to talk to each other. People don’t know how other people feel. So, they try to assess, you know, how are you feeling? People are scared to mention Gaza at work. They just want to pretend it’s not happening,” the report quoted Rharrit as saying.
According to Rharrit, she had to refuse several interviews with Arab media outlets about Gaza because she found official talking points to be inflammatory.
“They oftentimes [talking points] completely ignored Palestinians. Early on, it was very, very heavy on ‘Israel has a right to defend itself.’ Yes, Israel has a right to defend itself, but there was no mention of the plight of the Palestinians. I, in good conscience, could not go on Arab television with those talking points. All that that would have done is have caused someone to want to throw their shoe at the TV, want to burn an American flag or, worse, throw a rock at our troops,” the report quoted Rharrit as saying.
Rharrit is not the first US diplomat who resigned in protest of the Biden administration’s policy in Gaza. In October 2023, Josh Paul, an official who oversaw arms transfers to foreign nations, resigned in protest to continued US military assistance to Israel.
In March, Annelle Sheline, a State Department officer at the Office of Near Eastern Affairs in the Department of State's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, resigned over the disagreement with Biden's policy on Gaza.
On October 7, 2023, Hamas launched a large-scale rocket attack against Israel and breached the border, attacking both civilian neighborhoods and military bases. Nearly 1,200 people in Israel were killed and some 240 others abducted during the attack. Israel launched retaliatory strikes, ordered a complete blockade of Gaza, and started a ground incursion into the Palestinian enclave with the declared goal of eliminating Hamas fighters and rescuing the hostages. Over 34,400 people have been killed so far by Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip, according to local authorities.