U.S. Army Officer Resigns Over Biden Administration's Support for Israel's Ethnic Cleansing in Gaza

Officer wrote: 'At some point…you’re either advancing a policy that enables [the] mass starvation of children, or you’re not'

May 13, 2024

Maj. Harrison Mann resigned over the Biden administration’s support of the ethnic cleansing in Gaza. (LinkedIn)

Maj. Harrison Mann, a U.S. Army officer, resigned from the Department of Defence in a letter on LinkedIn over the Biden administration’s “unconditional support” for Israel’s rampage on Gaza.

“At some point…you’re either advancing a policy that enables [the] mass starvation of children, or you’re not,” he posted. “I know that I did, in my small way, wittingly advance that policy.”

He continued, “The past months have presented us with the most horrific and heartbreaking images imaginable…and I have been unable to ignore the connection between those images and my duties here. This caused me incredible shame and guilt.”

He mentioned that he grappled with his decision because officers sign up knowing that they may have to “support policies we weren't fully convinced of.”

“As the descendant of European Jews, I was raised in a particularly unforgiving moral environment when it came to the topic of bearing responsibility for ethnic cleansing – my grandfather refused to ever purchase products manufactured in Germany – where the paramount importance of ‘never again’ and the inadequacy of ‘just following orders’ were oft repeated. I am haunted by the knowledge that I have failed those principles. But I also have hope that my grandfather would afford me some grace; that he would still be proud of me for stepping away from this war, however belatedly.

Mann served as an officer for 13 years. His focus was on Middle East and Africa for about half of his career. The New York Times confirmed that he was the author of the post.

Mann is not the first official to resign over the U.S.’s support for Israel.

Annelle Sheline, a human rights official at the U.S. State Department, resigned after it became clear to her that the Biden administration would not stop arming Israel.

“The fundamental reason was – I no longer wanted to be affiliated with this administration,” she told the Guardian. “I have a young daughter. She’s not yet two, but if someday in the future, she is learning about this and knows that I was at the state department and she asked me [about it] – I want to be able to tell her that I did what I could.”

Josh Paul, a long-time U.S. State Department official also resigned over the Biden administration’s approach to the Israeli war in Gaza, said in an interview that there is no debate allowed in the department when it comes to providing weapons to Israel.

Paul had worked for the office that approves arms transfers, said in an earlier interview: “I recognize the Israeli government's right to respond and to defend themselves. I guess I question how many Palestinian children have to die in that process.”