Human rights advocates and critics of the Trump administration are denouncing 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 the Washington Post, Shahed Ghoreishi, the department's lead press officer on Israeli-Palestinian affairs, was fired Monday after a series of internal debates over how to characterize aspects of White House policy regarding Gaza, including over the release of a statement which simply said: "We do not support forced displacement of Palestinians in Gaza."
The Post's reporting, based on unnamed officials familiar with the situation as well as documents the newspaper reviewed, also included comments from Ghoreishi:
Ghoreishi told The Post he was not given an explanation for his firing, which the State Department was not required to provide due to his status as a contractor. He said the incident raised troubling questions about the department's position on the potential expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza.
"Despite a strong reputation and close working relationship with many of my colleagues, I was unable to survive these disputes," he said, noting the language he recommended for the media statement had been previously cleared by the State Department since Trump took office on Jan. 20.
A separate recent dispute was over the targeted assassination by Israel of Al-Jazeera journalist Anas al-Sharif earlier this month, killed by a missile strike alongside four other journalists: correspondent Mohammed Qreiqeh; photojournalists Ibrahim Al Thaher and Moamen Aliwa; and Mohammed Noufal, an Al-Jazeera staff member.
The Israeli military has claimed, without providing evidence, that al-Sharif was a Hamas soldier, but Al-Jazeera and others who know his work have repeatedly denounced that assertion as a baseless lie intended only to discredit the award-winning journalist who reported relentlessly from the frontlines of the horrors taking place in Gaza, including broadcasting reports of starving children to the world over recent months. Notably, the other journalists killed in the attack were not accused of being Hamas members.
When Ghoreishi drafted a statement that included the phrase, "We mourn the loss of journalists and express condolences to their families," higher-ups in the department told him that no such comment was needed.
"If you needed more evidence [President Donald] Trump has totally contracted out US policy in the Middle East to Netanyahu, look no further," said Sen. Chris Van Holen (D-Md.). "It's now apparently a fireable offense to say America opposes forced displacement of Palestinian civilians and regrets the killings of journalists. Shameful."
Progressive critics, like veteran labor organizer Chuck Idelson, said the firing speaks volumes about the administration overall under President Donald Trump and the US State Department under Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
"There really are no words left for the debasement of US policy in supporting, arming, enabling and justifying Israel’s genocide and ethnic cleansing," said Idelson in a social media post responding to the reporting. "It rivals every past horror in US policy, no wonder Trump wants to whitewash our nation’s history as he recreates every crime."
Arif Rafiq, an editor and frequent writer on foreign affairs, wrote: "There's never been so extensive a purge of Americans from public life for criticizing a foreign government."
Named as a key figure in the disputes that led to Ghoreishi's firing was David Milstein, a senior adviser to Mike Huckabee, the US ambassador to Israel.
The Post reports, citing unnammed officials they spoke with on the matter, that Milstein is viewed as someone "overly eager to please Israeli officials and frequently involves himself in matters that are beyond the scope of his responsibilities."
As one official put it: "Milstein is an adviser to an ambassador. That's it, yet he has his hands in everything."
