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Congressional Staff for a Ceasefire Now is a group of more than 150 Capitol Hill staffers.
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One organizer told BI that they have been protesting on Capitol Hill to amplify the voices of their constituents.
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They also say the organization has given staff an excuse to stay during an otherwise difficult time.
This as-told essay is based on a conversation with an organizer involved with the Congressional Staff for a Ceasefire Now, a group of Capitol Hill staffers pressuring lawmakers to support a ceasefire in Gaza. The employee has been granted anonymity so he can speak freely without fear of reprisal from his office. This essay has been edited for length and clarity.
When we saw Israel begin to wage its war in Gaza in late October, I and a number of other staffers on Capitol Hill were really, really concerned.
We had heard from thousands of voters who wrote to us, emailed us, called us and commented on our offices’ social media accounts, urging our bosses to call for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Initially there was only a group of four or five people willing to do something, but that gradually grew to a group of about a dozen staffers.
Our first major action was a floral vigil on the steps of the House of Representatives on November 7, a month after the Hamas attack on Israel. The goal was to confront lawmakers directly about the fact that there is disagreement among their staff about how they are handling this, while making it clear that we do not support our bosses’ decisions to condone this and to look the other way.
We recognized not only the civilian lives lost in Gaza, but also the 1,200 civilian lives lost in Israel during the horrific attacks on October 7. We laid 10,000 flowers – one for each civilian in both Israel and Gaza who had been killed at that time.
Our group has now grown to more than 150 employees and we have taken various other actions and demonstrations. In February, after the US cut funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), we held a fundraiser that raised more than $8,500. We also read the names of more than 300 children murdered in Gaza.
This month, we marched to the steps of the Capitol before a vote on a bill to force President Joe Biden to provide withheld aid to Israel, urging Congress to try to rescue Rafah instead.
During our public demonstrations, many of us – myself included – wear items such as masks or sunglasses to maintain our anonymity.
My boss is largely convinced that they are right about most things. But they were willing to listen.
I work for a House Democrat who has supported Biden’s plan for a negotiated, bipartisan ceasefire — but that definitely doesn’t go far enough.
I believe that Israel has not only a duty but also a responsibility to unilaterally implement a ceasefire and behave differently in this conflict if it actually hopes to secure hostages and eliminate Hamas.
I also believe that anywhere from a third to a half of the ninety-plus legislators who have called for a ceasefire—including my boss—have used that term under pressure, using varying definitions of the term to avoid putting the onus on Israel to actually secure one.
There are varying degrees to which lawmakers are willing to listen to their staffers on this issue. My own boss is stubborn and largely convinced that they are right about most things, but they have been willing to listen, and I admire them for that. To this end, we have had several conversations at staff level in recent months.
Recently I told my boss that they needed to focus more on today’s reality instead of just harkening back to October 7th.
Some senior staff in my office seem to know I’m involved in this effort – and they’ve made comments here and there to prove it. But I’m almost certain that the legislator I work for doesn’t know, and that if they did, there would be real consequences.
If they don’t listen to us in our offices, we have to find a way to get through to them.
Some people say that it is not our job as employees to do any of this, and that it is simply our job to carry out our boss’s wishes.
If it’s voters saying this, I understand: They don’t understand exactly how congressional offices work, they don’t know how Congress functions. But I think it’s a bad faith argument if it’s made by other staffers or by lawmakers.
We are the people who deal with voters. Members of Congress are not on the phone, not responding to emails, and in almost all cases not responding to social media comments. We have seen an unprecedented outpouring of sentiment from voters in support of a ceasefire, and in the offices of some lawmakers, that sentiment is not being listened to at the highest levels.
So if they don’t listen to us in our office, we have to find a way to get through to them.
We want to show that at all levels of our government – from civilians, to staffers, to government officials, to military members who have resigned in protest of this conflict and the way it is being handled – dissent exists, and that there is a price must be paid for. pay for not listening to your constituents.
If there is even a remote chance that you can make a difference, I believe you have a duty to stay.
Others might say that if we don’t agree with what our bosses are doing, we should stop. But it’s not that simple.
If you have enough exposure and can create a national story by quitting the State Department, the White House or the military, that can be a very important and impactful decision.
But if you’re an office where there’s even a remote chance of making a difference, then I think you have a duty to stay there. You don’t know who will step in and replace you in that job. You don’t know if they’re going to hire someone who just doesn’t believe in the humanity of the Palestinian people.
Personally, I have not considered resigning, but I have drawn personal lines for myself: I will not write content that I feel is completely inconsistent with the human values ​​I support.
Fortunately, I work in an office where it slowly but surely seems like the ship is turning. While I think my boss is turning a blind eye to more things that I’m comfortable with, I continue to believe that their thoughts are still changing and not rigid in this area. That’s enough for me to see a reason to stay on.
For the most part, staff are not entirely or even largely responsible for the votes their bosses receive.
We have already made an impact
One thing that is very reassuring to me is how cross-cutting this issue is, especially at a time when politics is more polarized than ever.
We’ve had Democrats and Republicans at some of our protests in the House of Representatives, but also Israelis and Palestinians, people who are Jewish or Muslim, with all religions and identities in between.
I think the staff’s actions, and showing how voters feel about this issue, is causing so many members of Congress to not only call for a ceasefire in some way, but actually stand up feel comfortable for the very first time in history with the idea of ​​conditioning aid to Israel.
We’ve given staff the courage to speak up in the office and have these kinds of conversations with their bosses. And I think we have been essential in giving staff an excuse to stay at a time when working in this institution is incredibly difficult.
Unless and until the government responds to the voters, we continue to intend to be their voice in the centers of power.
Read the original article on Business Insider
