this post was submitted on 01 Jun 2024
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565
He Made a PowerPoint on Mothers Starving in Gaza. Then He Lost His Government Job. (theintercept.com)
submitted 5 months ago by IndustryStandard@lemmy.world to c/news@lemmy.world
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Alexander Smith’s PowerPoint presentation doesn’t appear designed to court controversy. The slides, focused on declining maternal health in Gaza, cite public health data from the United Nations and World Health Organization. His employer, the U.S. Agency for International Development, had selected him to share it at the government agency’s Global Gender Equality Conference.

But just before the conference, an issue of contention emerged.

A single slide mentioned international humanitarian law in context of the health crisis in Gaza. USAID staff cited the slide and discussion of international law as potential fodder for leaks, documents and emails Smith shared with The Intercept show. Despite Smith’s willingness to make revisions, his presentation was eventually canceled. On the last day of the conference, he found himself out of a job.

“I thought it is really obscene that misinformation can go out freely out into the world [about Gaza], but I can’t talk about the reality of starving pregnant women,” said Smith, who worked as a contracted senior adviser at USAID on gender and material health. “We can’t even whisper about that in a conference on that topic.”

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[–] SphereofWreckening@ttrpg.network 6 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

Late last week, Smith said he got a call from the company that contracted his position with USAID. He was told he could either resign or be terminated over “personality differences.”

Forcing someone to either resign or be fired is pretty much firing them.

[–] SpaceCowboy@lemmy.ca -3 points 5 months ago (1 children)

It really isn't. He's a contractor it's part of the deal, you get paid more money, but contract can be ended at any time. They decided to end the contract and gave the option to resign.

[–] SphereofWreckening@ttrpg.network 3 points 5 months ago (1 children)

And that "contract ending" (firing) came about because of his views on Israel's Genocide. Him being a government contractor is besides the point since there was almost certainly governmental pressure to remove him. Whether it was hard or soft pressure.

[–] SpaceCowboy@lemmy.ca -2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

You're making a lot of assumptions based solely on the word of a scumbag contractor that made a living siphoning off money that could go to impoverished countries by giving bullshit powerpoint presentations.

[–] SphereofWreckening@ttrpg.network 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Well you're making a whole lot of assumptions yourself. And mine are based on Occams Razor and the US governments consistent actions to stifle free speech that is critical of Israel. The US government has a vested interest in stopping people from revealing the horrors of Israel's Genocide.

[–] SpaceCowboy@lemmy.ca -2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Yeah... you don't understand Occam's Razor. The simplest explanation is they cut the guy loose because he's wasn't worth the money they were paying him.

Piling a conspiracy theory on top of that is actually the exact opposite of Occam's Razor.

[–] SphereofWreckening@ttrpg.network 3 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

It's not Occams Razor to point out the US' complete bias towards Israel? It's not Occams Razor to assume employers consistently act in bad faith in the US? I believe him when he says he was forced out, it wasn't too long ago that a nurse was fired because she called out Palestinian genocide.You sound incredibly naive.

Did you also even read the article? There are literal emails referencing/heavily hinting at the removal of any reference to Palestinian mother's starving. Something he was willing to do, but ultimately his whole slideshow was canceled. And right before the end of the conference he was at: he forced to resign. Yet you'd say it's just a coincidence.