Analyzing & Shifting U.S. policy towards Israel and Palestine

In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Ahmed Moor speaks with Josh Paul, former State Department official who resigned in October 2023 in protest against the Biden Administration's military support for Israel. They discuss Josh's decision to resign as well as how defense and foreign lobbying work in the United States. They also speak about US and European policy towards Palestine and what it will take to create shifts towards Palestinian self-determination.  Josh Paul is co-founder of A New Policy, which advocates for U.S. policies toward the Middle East that advance American national interests and values. He resigned from the State Department in October, 2023 due to his disagreement with the Biden Administration’s decision to rush lethal military assistance to Israel in the context of its war on Gaza. He had previously spent over 11 years working as a Director in the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, which is responsible for U.S. defense diplomacy, security assistance, and arms transfers. He previously worked on security sector reform in both Iraq and the West Bank, with additional roles in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, U.S. Army Staff, and as a Military Legislative Assistant for a Member of the U.S. House Armed Services Committee. Josh grew up between London and New York, and holds Masters degrees from the Universities of Georgetown and St Andrews, Scotland. He is a recipient of the 2023 Callaway Award for Civic Courage and 2024 MedGlobal Award for Courage. Ahmed Moor is a Palestinian-American writer born in Gaza and a 2025 Fellow at FMEP. He is an advisory board member of the US Campaign for Palestinian rights, co-editor of After Zionism (Saqi Books) and is currently writing a book about Palestine. He also currently serves on the board of the Independence Media Foundation. His work has been published in The Guardian, The London Review of Books, The Nation, and elsewhere. He earned a BA at the University of Pennsylvania and an MPP at Harvard University. Original music by Jalal Yacquoub.