“It was clear to me that I needed to step away” after an Israeli airstrike killed his aunt, says Mohammed Abu Hashem.
As Israel’s war on Gaza enters its 10th month, we speak with Mohammed Abu Hashem, a Palestinian American who ended a 22-year career in the U.S. Air Force after an Israeli airstrike in Gaza killed his aunt in October. “It was clear to me that I needed to step away,” says Abu Hashem, who served as a first sergeant in the 316th Civil Engineer Squadron of the U.S. Air Force. He recently co-signed a letter with 11 other former U.S.
It was clear to me that I needed to step away, and I made my decision on October 21st, after trying my best to give evidence to the intelligence community. And when I never received anything back, I knew then, and along with watching other members of the State Department resign — I knew that no matter how high in the rank I would have reached, no one was going to listen in a time this administration was not going to change their mind.
I rebutted that response and asked again, “How was it a Hamas operational structure?” At the very least, why they waited until all the residents to reenter the building before striking the residence? Because they did perform a roof knock that even my cousin told me about. And the majority of the residents of that building, to include the 12 children that was killed on that day, exited the building for approximately 90 minutes.
And it really took me back. It took me a week to analyze and really think about the possibility that I could have had in the conversation with Aaron to let him know why I decided to leave the service, and me being Palestinian, what that conversation could have been like. My entire job as a first sergeant in the military was to take care of the welfare and the morale of the individuals that I served over.
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