By Janet Ekstract ISTANBUL- Protesters in the thousands, filled the streets of Istanbul, late Wednesday, condemning the killing of Ismail Haniyeh, leader of the Palestinian resistance group Hamas. According to a new article in the New York Times, Haniyeh was killed by a special bomb, smuggled into his room at the guest house he was staying in, to attend the ceremony for the new president of Iran. Israel allegedly assassinated Haniyeh in Tehran, boosting fears of a more widespread conflict in the Middle East and dashing hopes that a ceasefire-hostage deal could be achieved. Marching through one of Istanbul’s ethnic suburbs, Fatih – demonstrators held up posters and banners with Haniyeh’s photos and the words “Martyr Haniyeh, Jerusalem is our cause and your path is our path.” Meanwhile, protesters chanted “Murderer Israel, get out of Palestine,” and “Thousands of greetings from Istanbul to the resistance in Gaza.” – waving Turkish and Palestinian flags. Haniyeh’s death was announced by Hamas and Iran on Wednesday morning.
Meanwhile, Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu though not openly claiming responsibility for Haniyeh’s death, hinted at Israel’s involvement. Netanyahu has ignored a U.N. Security Council resolution that demands an immediate ceasefire in Gaza as well as the International Court of Justice (ICJ) rulings, calling for an immediate ceasefire and to protect civilian lives. It’s widely known in political circles that Netanyahu and his far-right ministers are not interested in a ceasefire deal or a two-state solution as two of his most outspoken far-right ministers Ben-Gvir and Smotrich had already denounced any talk of a ceasefire or hostage deal. It’s also common knowledge that both Ben-Gvir and Smotrich along with Netanyahu have no interest in a two-state solution and already openly called for Palestinians to be deported. For months, Tel-Aviv and Jerusalem have been wracked with mass protests calling for Netanyahu’s resignation and an immediate hostage deal along with a ceasefire. The hostage families, despite pleas to senior U.S. officials and Netanyahu to get a deal done, have yet to see their loved ones released.
What is especially significant is that in this eight-month wake of Israel’s strikes on Gaza, a number of U.S. State Department employees resigned their posts because they disagreed with the Biden administration’s stance on Israel’s actions in Gaza. According to media reports, at least six officials in the departments of State, Defense, Education and the Department of the Interior left their posts and PBS News Hour spoke to Stacy Gilbert with a 20-year career at the U.S. State Department who spoke out against the U.S. position on what is really happening in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Gilbert. a former civil military advisor in the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Population Refugees and Migration told PBS News Hour why she left as she said: “I cannot continue working for a government that denies and enables Israel’s deliberate carnage.” The defining moment for Gilbert, whose work primarily focused on humanitarian assistance, came, she said after the May 10 report where the Biden administration’s conclusion stated that Israel was not blocking humanitarian assistance. Gilbert said that was not the opinion of all the international organizations, humanitarian officials on the ground or any other groups aware of what is happening.
As Gilbert explained: “There is abundant evidence showing Israel is responsible for blocking aid, to deny this is absurd and shameful.” She said the proof is in the databases that record daily, how many aid trucks move back and forth within Gaza and whether aid is actually moving into Gaza. She added that “Most often, things are delayed, blocked, we have the data,” and she said that organizations on the ground in Gaza have sent “numerous reports with details” on the lack of humanitarian assistance. World Food Program (WPF) Director Cindy McCain told the American press, months ago that the entirety of Gaza is suffering from famine. Gilbert said that Israel only allows in “minimal” assistance and had presented a letter accusing the U.S. State Department. When asked “Did the State Department twist the facts?” Gilbert answered, “They did,” adding that “subject matter experts were removed from the report” and “it was drafted at a higher level.” She pointed out: “I’m also resigning, in part, to speak up for them.”Meanwhile, Lily Nicole Greenberg Call, the first known Jewish appointee to the Biden administration was a special assistant to the chief of staff at the Interior Department, named to the post by President Joe Biden in early 2023, quit on May 15, in a four-page letter, condemning the Biden administration’s “disastrous support for Israel’s genocide in Gaza.” Greenberg Call who spoke to PBS Democracy Now!, said her resignation was motivated by her Jewish values: “I feel that I am really living in my Jewishness, in the essence of what I was raised with, by standing up for Palestinians and by demanding their freedom.” She said she felt that “the president was using my community,” and called what’s happening to the Palestinians “not only disastrous for them for the Jewish community around the world.” Greenberg Call said her purpose is to “make an impact to change the status quo,” and that she counts among her nearest and dearest, the people she loves – her Palestinian and Muslim friends. She further stated that “My former boss makes me feel unsafe as an American Jew – it’s not true that all Jews support this. Greenberg Call also said the actions of the Biden administration “promote anti-Semitism.” Her realization that she wants to share with the world is that Jews and Muslims are working together for solutions to the situation in Gaza. While Greenberg Call made it clear: “If you harm someone else, you harm yourself.” She surmised as part of the Jewish community: “Making us the face of the American war machine, the bombs and money that are funding this genocide – instead of being honest about why the U.S. funds Israel, because of military interests “What makes Lily Nicole Greenberg Call unique is her compassionate take on what has happened in Israel and Gaza. As she remarked: “In my opinion, if we are going to acknowledge what happened on October 7, it did not happen in a vacuum because of occupation and apartheid, it felt very important for me to say that to people.” Greenberg Call also wants people to know: “There are Jews who care about changing the status quo, unfortunately, that perspective is not very mainstream and tends to be suppressed
