A group of Biden administration staffers held a vigil outside the White House on Wednesday night, calling for a ceasefire in the Israel–Hamas conflict. The vigil was organized by a self-described interfaith group of political appointees, administration staffers, and civil service career staff. They featured a banner reading, “President Biden, your staff demands a ceasefire,” and arranged what appeared to be candles to spell out the word “ceasefire.”
The vigil organizers stood in front of the White House, concealing their faces behind masks, glasses, hats, hoodies, regular scarves, and Palestinian keffiyeh scarves—a checkered black and white scarf that has become a symbol of the Palestinian cause. Their demands included President Joe Biden and Cabinet members demanding a ceasefire and de-escalation of the conflict, the release of hostages, though their statement did not mention Hamas, the “restoration of water, fuel, electricity,” and other services, and humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.
Josh Paul, a former State Department official who resigned in mid-October owing to his opposition to the administration’s handling of the conflict, delivered a statement on behalf of the group that gathered outside the White House. He expressed the group’s horror at both the Hamas terror group’s Oct. 7 rampage in southern Israel and at “the disproportionate response by the Israeli government.” Over 800 members of the group have signed a letter to the president, vice president, and Cabinet members demanding a ceasefire and de-escalation.
The group’s action comes a day after the United Nations General Assembly voted for a resolution urging a ceasefire after U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres invoked Article 99 of the U.N. Charter to force the Security Council to address the Israel–Hamas conflict. Before the U.N. General Assembly’s vote, Israeli U.N. Ambassador Gilad Erdan stressed the country’s stance that a ceasefire is only possible if Hamas releases all of the 240 hostages captured during its Oct. 7 attack.