I have always associated Washington insiders, especially those who have reached the high levels of administration, with being people of moral dubiousness. It takes a particular kind of person to join and associate with successive administrations responsible for ripping apart the Muslim world over the past 25 years. That’s why, when I made contact with Josh Paul, the highest-level state department civil servant who had resigned over Gaza, I wanted to understand how morally consistent he was.
What I found was very interesting. Josh is a believer, in a rules-based order that I think disappeared long ago, under the rubble of Khandahar and Baghdad (if it did exist). But he insists this order was worth fighting for until Gaza. He now believes that this slaughter, this genocide, is a turning point, and America may not be able to recover from the open duplicity it has shown.
We may differ on when this rot began. I, for one, believe the liberal order is inherently duplicitous and was never meant to create universal norms for all people. But Josh Paul taught me to see such people with more texture. His world, of an order that was once worth fighting for, has led him to fight for the rights of Palestinians. And I think we need more people like Josh, who belong to Washington, to work to counter the nebulous narrative of AIPAC and its influence.
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