WASHINGTON, Aug 24 (APP): Human rights advocates and critics have denounced the US State Department’s firing of a top media relations official who reportedly recommended “expressing condolences” for journalists killed by Israeli forces in Gaza and drafted a statement articulating US government opposition to what amounts to ethnic cleansing in the besieged enclave, according to media reports.
Shahed Ghoreishi, who is an American of Iranian origin, was fired after the US Embassy in Jerusalem questioned his loyalty to President Donald Trump’s Middle East policies, The Washington Post reported.
The Post’s reporting was based on unnamed officials familiar with the situation as well as documents the newspaper had reviewed.
According to the Post, Ghoreishi drafted a statement that included a line saying the State Department does “not support forced displacement of Palestinians in Gaza,” which the Department rejected.
This disagreement followed earlier clashes over whether to include condolences for Al Jazeera journalist Anas al Sharif and other journalists killed by Israel in Gaza on August 10 in another statement — a proposal senior US officials also blocked.
Ghoreishi also disputed the use of the term “Judea and Samaria” — a phrase favoured by numerous far-right-wing Israeli officials to describe Palestine’s occupied West Bank.
A graduate of Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), Ghoreishi informed the Post that he was not provided with a reason for his dismissal from the State Department, where he was employed on a contractual basis.
Ghoreishi said he intends to continue speaking out in the future, with a focus on highlighting the increasing radicalism of US policy and its language.
Commenting on the event, State Department Deputy Spokesperson Tommy Pigott said, “We do not comment on leaked emails or allegations.”
He also emphasized the Department’s zero-tolerance policy for misconduct “by leaking or otherwise disclosing confidential deliberative emails or information,” and said federal employees must prioritize Trump’s agenda over personal beliefs.
Meanwhile, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a prominent Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, has condemned the firing of Ghoreishi over how to characterize Trump administration policies, including a controversial plan for ethnic cleansing of Gaza.
CAIR said the firing indicates that public officials are joining the growing number of American people opposed to Israel’s genocide in Gaza and the Trump administration’s complicity with that genocide.
“This unjust firing is part of a disturbing pattern of silencing dissent and punishing moral clarity on human rights in U.S. foreign policy,” CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad said in a statement.
“It is clear that more and more public servants are no longer willing to enable or excuse the genocide in Gaza quietly. We commend Mr. Ghoreishi for standing on principle, and we condemn the State Department for punishing him for telling the truth.”
He added: “President Trump’s administration has deepened America’s complicity in the ongoing genocide in Gaza, and those who speak up — whether journalists, whistleblowers, or civil servants — are facing retaliation. But truth cannot be fired.
“The Trump administration’s ‘Israel’s First’ agenda is undermining America’s standing at home and abroad. The majority of Americans and a growing number of MAGA (Make America Great Again) leaders and supporters oppose this erosion of values.”
APP/ift