US Army officer resigns over Israel's "ethnic cleansing" in Gaza
Washington DC - An American Army major has become the latest federal employee to resign over US support for Israel's siege of Gaza.
Army Major Harrison Mann in April announced he was stepping back from his post at the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) in a resignation letter published to LinkedIn on Monday.
The move came as Mann felt increasingly distressed by the US government's "nearly unqualified support" for Israel's assault on the Palestinian people, which has claimed over 35,000 lives and left millions more vulnerable to starvation.
While he was not directly responsible for US policymaking, Mann recognized: "My work here [at the DIA] – however administrative or marginal it appeared – unquestionably contributed to that support."
This realization brought with it "incredible shame and guilt."
Mann explained to his colleagues: "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."
"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."
Harrison Mann becomes latest federal employee to resign over Gaza assault
Mann's letter made him the latest federal employee in recent months to resign over an Israeli campaign which the International Court of Justice has ruled to be plausibly genocidal.
Former State Department officer Annelle Sheline left her post over the US' role in Gaza's destruction, as did former Education Department official Tariq Habash, who is Palestinian American.
Josh Paul, a top official at the State Department, stepped down over continued US arms transfers to Israel. He has since backed a federal lawsuit accusing President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin of complicity in genocide.
US Air Force member Aaron Bushnell died after setting himself on fire to protest US support for Israel. He has been received as a hero by many in the Palestinian liberation movement.
Mann wrote on LinkedIn that he has gotten an "unexpected outpouring of support" after distributing his letter internally and is now sharing the message more broadly in hopes of inspiring wider change.
"I am sharing it now in the hope that you too will discover you are not alone, you are not voiceless, and you are not powerless," he said.
Cover photo: Collage: Kent Nishimura / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP & Screenshot/LinkedIn/Harrison Mann