Arabic spokesman at the US State Department Rharrit announced his resignation to protest Washington’s policy on the conflict in Gaza.
“I resigned in April 2024 after 18 years of dedication to protesting US policy on Gaza,” Ms. Hala Rharrit, Arabic spokeswoman at the US State Department, wrote on LinkedIn on April 25. Rharrit has worked at the US State Department since 2005, holding many different positions, including spokesperson for the Middle East and North Africa region since August 2022.
US State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said he was aware of Ms. Rharrit’s resignation but did not comment, because this was a “personal matter”. Patel added that the agency has channels for employees to share their views when they feel they disagree with Washington’s policies.
Rharrit is the third official at the US State Department to quit to protest US policy on Gaza, after Annelle Sheline at the end of March and Josh Paul in October 2023. Tariq Habash, a Palestinian-American official at the US Department of Education, resigned for similar reasons in January.
Hala Rharrit, Arabic spokeswoman at the US State Department. Image: U.S. State Department
The United States has recently been criticized by the international community and human rights groups regarding its support for Israel in the Gaza conflict. The Israel-Hamas war that broke out on October 7, 2023 left about 34,300 people dead in Gaza, most of them women and children, pushing the region close to a humanitarian crisis.
The Israel-Hamas conflict also sparked a series of large-scale anti-war protests at universities across the US. Students set up tents, controlled buildings on campus, and ignored police requests to disperse. US police arrested more than 530 cases at major universities in the US last week.
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