More than 140 congressional interns, fellows, and other members of Congress released an open letter late Monday calling for a truce in the Israel-Hamas conflict. The letter states that “wanton killing of innocent civilians is not justified.” “There is no justification to intentionally bomb hospitals, shelters or water supplies. This is no longer
More than 140 parliamentary interns and fellows issued an open letter to Congress later on Monday requesting a halt to the Israel-Hamas conflict.
The letter declares,” There is no justification for the willful killing of honest civilians.” ” There is no justification for purposefully bombing hospitals, shelters, water sources, places of worship, or schools.” This is n’t a defensive action anymore. Genocide is what it is. As legislative interns and fellows, we owe it to the American people to expose the obvious malpractice of Congress, even though we refrain from instructing our bosses on how to perform their duties. Interns claim they signed the letter covertly out of concern for online harassment and specialized repercussions.
Members of Congress are also charged in the letter with disobeying their constituents ‘ wishes by refusing to support a ceasefire. Just four senators and 55 members of the House have demanded a ceasefire as of December 4. But, a Data for Progress poll conducted on Tuesday revealed that 61 percent of voters global agreed to end the war permanently. Internals, who are responsible for responding to fundamental calls, are aware of this support’s scope firsthand. According to the letter, constituents made almost 700,000 calls calling for a permanent end to fighting in the war in 71 Parliamentary offices.
These figures are cited in the letter as proof that constituents ‘ voices are being” suppressed” in congressional offices. The letter states that “in many instances, senior staff have purposefully provided false information about these data to Members, and in some cases, Members of Congress are not being sufficiently briefed about the volume or contents of these messages.” The interns did not offer any concrete proof to support the assertion that top staff members were giving Congressmen false information.
The interns join a growing group of parliamentary employees at all levels who have been openly criticizing their bosses ‘ positions on the conflict. Additionally, NBC News reported last week that Kamala Harris and Joe Biden had received a letter from more than 40 White House interns pleading for an end to the war. One intern interviewed for this story noted that because hill interns must communicate with constituents all day, they are frequently in a specially challenging situation.
The intern said,” On the phone, I’m limited to a pretty carefully chosen response. I can only communicate public statements that the member has made. Because I can relate to the other person’s frustration, it is really difficult. I’ve been told numerous times that because I work for a representative who wo n’t do anything, I personally have blood on my hands and am complicit in genocide. The intern claimed that in their office, calls calling for a ceasefire have outnumbered calls asking about another well-liked issues like immigration and gun control.
One junior Hill staffer who assisted in organizing the recent Congressional staff walkout for a ceasefire ( but was not involved in the interns ‘ letter ) noted that the war has been “especially detrimental” to morale among young staff members in an interview several weeks ago. The staff member remarked,” I do n’t think these members of Congress who purport to speak for their constituents actually understand what those constituents want. Since no one else in the senior staff level or the members ‘ office appears to be hearing what the American people want, I find it depressing to see that many of these staff members are carrying the burden of believing they are the only representatives for constituents present.
Below is the complete letter:
More than 140 parliamentary interns and fellows issued an open letter to Congress later on Monday requesting an end to the Israel-Hamas conflict. The letter states that there is no justification for the heinous murder of defenseless civilians. There is no justification for purposefully bombing schools, hospitals, shelters, water sources, or places of worship. It’s no more
More than 140 congressional interns, fellows, and other members of Congress released an open letter late Monday calling for a truce in the Israel-Hamas conflict. The letter states that “wanton killing of innocent civilians is not justified.” “There is no justification to intentionally bomb hospitals, shelters or water supplies. This is no longer
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2023/12/congressional-interns-ceasefire-letter/
