‘Stain’ on America's legacy: Former diplomat shines light on US complicity in Israeli crimes in Gaza

By Rabia Iclal Turan

WASHINGTON (AA) — A former American diplomat has sharply criticized the US government’s unwavering support for Israel amid its ongoing offensive on Gaza, calling it a “stain” that will tarnish the country's legacy for many years to come.

“I think that this is something that is going to be a stain on the United States for generations,” Hala Rharrit, who served as the State Department’s Arabic language spokesperson until her resignation in April, told Anadolu in a video interview from Dubai.

“It's devastating to me as someone, not just as an American diplomat, but just as an American that my country is seen as the country of child killers, and that's how we're seen and portrayed across not just the Arab world at this point, but across a large swath of the world,” she added.

During her 18-year career at the State Department, Rharrit held various roles, most recently as deputy director of the Dubai Regional Media Hub. In a LinkedIn post announcing her resignation, she wrote: "Diplomacy, not arms. Be a force for peace and unity."

Rharrit explained that before resigning, she had tried to change the administration’s Gaza policy from within but faced a lot of opposition after raising concerns about what she described as "rampant double standards" and the dehumanization of Palestinians.

She also criticized the policy's "blatant" racism and the lack of humanity when it came to the loss of Palestinian or Arab lives.

“They were not making anyone like America. They were doing the opposite. They were making an entire region hate the United States,” she said, noting that the State Department's official talking points ignored the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and exacerbated anti-American sentiment.

“My role as an American diplomat was to promote America, not to hurt my country,” she said, explaining the reason why she refused to give media interviews before her resignation.

Rharrit's role also involved monitoring Arab media coverage of Gaza and documenting the backlash against US policy in the region. In her reports to Washington, she frequently included viral images and videos from the Arab world depicting massacres of children and potential war crimes, highlighting US complicity through the use of American-made weapons in Israeli strikes that caused civilian casualties.

"You can't escape the complicity, and you can't escape the reality of it, because it's all been documented. It's much more difficult to push to the side when we've all been watching it," Rharrit said.

In January, she said she was told that her reports documenting the viral images and growing backlash in Arab media were no longer needed.

"I got the message," Rharrit said, explaining how she was increasingly "silenced and sidelined" until she realized the policy was not going to change, prompting her decision to resign.

- ‘I didn’t swear to promote potential genocide’

Recalling that she swore an oath to defend the Constitution when she joined the State Department in 2006, Rharrit said: “I didn't swear an oath to defend the Constitution in order to lie or to promote the potential genocide.”

“Especially at the beginning, there was so much emphasis on 'we are with the Israeli people,' and there was nothing, nothing about the Palestinian people,” she said, referring to the early days after the Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel by the Palestinian group Hamas.

“You can't claim that this is a war on Hamas and then ignore over 2 million people in Gaza,” she said, criticizing the State Department talking points that were coming from Washington.

"it's absolutely unacceptable and inexcusable, the level of double standard that was apparent in all of our talking points."

- Mutiny within the State Department

Many reports suggest there is internal dissent within the State Department, with leaks and warnings, though it's unclear whether this reflects widespread opposition to the administration's Gaza policy.

“I think there is a majority that does not support it but is very silent and is willfully enabling it, even though they know it's wrong,” she said, adding that many choose to stay quiet for career or financial reasons.

For Rharrit, it was “devastating” to see how many people within the government were willfully enabling this policy, even though they admitted that it was wrong.

According to recent reports, State Department and Pentagon officials warned the White House officials of the impact Israel’s actions in Gaza could have on America’s image in the Arab and Muslim world.

“My office was raising these concerns from the get-go,” Rharrit said. “We warned from the very beginning, this is hurting us. You need to stop this right now. This is a threat to our own US national security.”

- 'US complicity in genocide'

Asked if she believes the US is complicit in the genocide of Palestinians, Rharrit was clear: "I think the Israeli government's intent is genocide. I don't think the American government's intent is genocide."

However, she added, "Israel would not be able to commit this genocide without US weapons."

Asked if US President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken are fully aware of Israel’s potential violations of international law and US law, she responded: "I think they know, because their experts tell them, the reports that I wrote, the reports that are coming from the field, from so many diplomats, and not just from the State Department, but from USAID (US Agency for International Development) and from other agencies. The information is there."

Rharrit also pointed to the influence of Washington’s arms industry and pro-Israel lobby groups like AIPAC as reasons why the US continues to send weapons to Israel, despite mounting civilian casualties in Gaza.

Decisions to send weapons are being made by “politicians who profit from war,” according to Rharrit.

- Hope for change

Rharrit expressed a desire for hope amid the turmoil, emphasizing that meaningful change must come from a mass movement—not just within the US, but also from the Israeli people.

"The Israeli people themselves have been protesting in the streets of Tel Aviv...It is abundantly clear that this policy is failing everyone," she said.

"We, as in human beings, have to collectively say enough is enough. I want to have hope," she said.

As the US approaches its presidential elections, she urged leaders, particularly Vice President and Democratic candidate Kamala Harris, to prioritize a cease-fire and de-escalation before the polls.

"People of conscience who are just sick and tired of mass slaughter on a daily basis with their tax dollars, have said enough is enough, and it may very well cost her the election," she said.