18 January 2024
US Republican leaders threatened disciplinary action and termination of their job against federal workers participating in a mass walkout protesting President Joe Biden’s backing of Israel’s bloody military campaign in Gaza. More than 85,000 Palestinians have either been killed or injured in what has been labelled Israel’s war of genocide against Palestinians.
The protest, led by an anonymous group dubbed “Feds United for Peace”, aims to observe a “Day of Mourning” as Israel continues its bombing campaign for over 100 days.
Hundreds across agencies including the White House and Pentagon plan to simultaneously take leave to demonstrate against Washington’s support of the apartheid state as the Gaza death touches 24,500. Israel enjoys staunch bipartisan political backing in the US.
But House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and oversight Chairman James Comer promised to pressure agencies into prosecuting employees over the action. Stating the workers “deserve to be fired”, legislators argue the demonstration illegally constitutes an organised “strike” against government policy, violating statutes.
There is said to be unprecedented internal dissent within federal ranks over the Biden administration’s decision to continue backing its major ally despite allegations of genocide. Biden himself marked the 100-day anniversary with a controversial statement showing solidarity with Israel but failed to mention even once the mass slaughter of Palestinians.
“When your kids ask you, ‘What did you do?’, we don’t want to say that we just watched from the sidelines. And we hope that everyone who has a conscience looks at this situation and takes it upon themselves to not watch from the sidelines,” one of the organisers of the walkout is reported saying in Al Jazeera. She wanted to remain anonymous.
“We are really not activists,” said a second organiser. “There may be, among our group, people who are political appointees, but we’re not political in any way,” said the second organiser. “This group really grows out of this immense frustration and sadness at seeing the war continue for so long – the massive death and destruction unfolding in Gaza over the last 100 days,” said an organiser who also wanted to remain anonymous.
Following a report on Feds United for Peace’s planned action last week, House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, tweeted: “Any government worker who walks off the job to protest US support for our ally Israel is ignoring their responsibility and abusing the trust of taxpayers.”
“They deserve to be fired,” he wrote, adding he would “work to ensure that each federal agency initiates appropriate disciplinary proceedings against any person who walks out on their job.”
