Alex Smith is a lawyer, humanitarian, famine expert, and former USAID official who resigned in protest over U.S. policy in Gaza.

Together with Jasmine, they unpack how a famine - so preventable and so widely predicted - was allowed to unfold in Gaza, the first famine ever declared in the Middle East by the UN-backed IPC.

Alex draws on more than two decades of work in conflict zones, from Afghanistan to Sudan, to explain what makes Gaza’s crisis unique: its speed, its deliberate nature, and the silence of policymakers who looked the other way. They discuss the failures of international response, the misuse of food as a weapon of war, and the urgent need for accountability and action.

This week, the view is from inside the US Government.

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The View from Here aims to showcase a wide range of views and opinions, which do not necessarily reflect those of the podcast or its host.

Correction: Ron Dermer is the Minister of Strategic Affairs, not the Interior Minister as descibed in the episode.

Resources:

1-The IPC issues its first report on Gaza, warning of potential famine in December 2023: https://www.ipcinfo.org/fileadmin/user_upload/ipcinfo/docs/IPC_Famine_Review_Report_Gaza.pdf

2-Alex's resignation letter to the head of USAID, Samantha Power, and interview on Democracy Now: https://www.democracynow.org/2024/5/31/alex_smith_usaid_resignation_gaza_war

3-The Gaza Pier Project: https://www.reuters.com/world/how-bidens-gaza-pier-project-unraveled-2024-07-25/

4-Doctors Without Borders statement on the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF): https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/latest/gaza-humanitarian-foundation-aid-distribution-system-must-be-dismantled

5-Letter from Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Israeli Defence Minister Yaov Gallant on aid to Gaza: https://en.majalla.com/node/322651/documents-memoirs/full-text-us-letter-israel-let-aid-gaza-or-face-consequences