In tears, Annelle Sheline says 'could not stay silent' over Gaza carnage

Annelle Sheline, a former State Department official, who recently resigned in protest of the Biden administration's support for Israel's war on Gaza, found herself visibly shaken as she grappled with the weight of her conscience amidst questions from Amy Goodman on Democracy Now.

Referencing a poignant social media post by Aaron Bushnell, a young US Air Force serviceman who self-immolated in front of the Israeli Embassy in Washington, to protest Israeli genocide in Gaza, Goodman gently probed Sheline about its impact.

The post, struck a chord with Sheline, who admitted to being haunted by its message.

"In the future, if my daughter were to ask me what I was doing during these events," Sheline revealed, her voice trembling with emotion, "I want to be able to tell her that I didn't stay silent."

"I think American law is quite clear here, in terms of the Leahy laws, for example, that when a foreign military [Israel] is credibly accused of gross human rights violations, the law is that the US will no longer provide weapons to those units, or 620I of the Foreign Assistance Act, that a government that is blocking American humanitarian aid is no longer eligible for US military assistance. These laws are not being applied," she noted.

Sheline's resignation from the State Department made global headlines and underscores her refusal to remain complicit in what she perceives as unjust US policies towards Gaza.

In an op-ed published in CNN on Thursday, she wrote, "For the past year, I worked for the office devoted to promoting human rights in the Middle East. I believe strongly in the mission and in the important work of that office. However, as a representative of a government that is directly enabling what the International Court of Justice has said could plausibly be a genocide in Gaza, such work has become almost impossible."

"Unable to serve an administration that enables such atrocities, I have decided to resign from my position at the Department of State," she wrote.

At the time of her interview, Sheline said she could no longer continue to do what she was doing.

"I hope that my resignation can contribute to the many efforts to push the administration to withdraw support for Israel's war, for the sake of the 2 million Palestinians whose lives are at risk and for the sake of America's moral standing in the world," she added.

Asked about the resignation, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said that there is a "broad diversity of views inside the State Department about the US' policy on Gaza."

Sheline told Democracy Now that many people in the US government are "extremely horrified" by the US position on the war.

"I think, at the end of the day, many people inside State know that this is a horrific policy and can't believe that the United States government is engaged in such actions that contravene American values so directly. But the leadership is not listening."