A UN food agency veteran of 26 years was fired for speaking about Gaza. Now, he is fighting to expose what the leadership tried to bury
‘A terrible injustice.’
Benjamin Davis is currently fighting to challenge his dismissal from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (UN). He served as a senior official at the agency for 26 years. According to The Guardian, his contract was not renewed following his efforts to highlight the hunger crisis in Gaza, Palestine. Davis maintains that his work remained within the core mandate of the organization.
The FAO leadership took issue with several actions taken by Davis and his team. This included the publication of a brief on hunger in Gaza. The team also held a seminar on the subject last year. Davis additionally participated in weekly moments of silence held on agency grounds. These gatherings were meant to honor those who died from hunger in Gaza.
The seminar held in September 2025 triggered a formal complaint from the Israeli mission. A diplomat from that mission also attended a moment of silence in October 2025. She took photographs of the staff members who were present. This led to an altercation on the grounds of the headquarters in Rome.
The diplomat claimed she was being harassed when asked to stop taking pictures
Davis, a 62-year-old Spanish-American dual citizen, had to leave the organization last week. A video showed colleagues applauding him as he walked out of the headquarters. Davis said he felt supported by those who stopped him to offer kind words. He noted that he was stopped constantly in the hallways. People wanted to shake his hand or thank him for his stance.
The Director-General of the agency, Qu Dongyu, who is also a veteran Chinese agronomist, addressed the situation in public remarks. He did not name Davis directly but spoke about firing people for political activism. “We are not going to allow you to play the game here of human rights. Of course human rights are very important, but they have a human rights agency in Geneva. If you want to take care [of human rights], go there,” Qu said.
“Thats why [when] some senior members play political games here, I fire him,” he said, suggesting that Davis had violated staff regulations. “I’m a very soft person. I didn’t fire that many. I’m going to use my last year… to fire more if they’re against the law.”
Davis and his colleagues were stunned by the Director-General’s comments
Pointing to the official slogan of the agency, which is to leave no one behind, Davis said the remarks about human rights undermined the foundation of the United Nations. The letter informing him of his dismissal stated that the leadership was no longer confident in his ability to discharge his obligations. It cited rules regarding impartiality and limits on the public expression of personal views.
Davis formally responded to these claims in writing. “Silence in the face of suffering and injustice is not neutrality, it is complicity. Shutting down discussion on the starvation of the Palestinian people weakens the reputation of the organisation and the legitimacy of our mandate. Being true to our mandate calls for a frank and open discussion around starvation, famine, and genocide in Palestine and elsewhere,” he wrote.
The briefing paper published by his team in May 2024 described the level of hunger in Gaza. It placed the situation in the context of international humanitarian law. The report stated that conditions in the Gaza Strip reflect a gross violation of the right to food. It also mentioned the unlawful obstruction of humanitarian assistance. This report was removed from the website a few weeks later.
Davis said that all of these events were approved by management beforehand
Davis said he was never told that these activities violated the code of conduct at the time. He has now filed a formal appeal against his dismissal. “I filed the appeal mostly as a matter of principle, not because I’m looking for or expecting any monetary compensation or anything like that. I have requested to be reinstated, and also for them to take back the accusations that they made against me,” he said.
Despite his own losses, Davis has a message of hope. According to The Hill, he urges others not to despair despite the current atmosphere, encouraging people to help however they can. Last week, he spoke about his firing. “I feel it’s a terrible injustice. I’ve been disciplined without due process for speaking about a subject at the core of FAO’s mandate about the right to food which is the most basic of human rights.”
The Gaza Strip has faced extreme war and famine-like conditions for nearly three years. This followed the attack on Israeli citizens on October 7, 2023. The two million residents of the territory have endured a worsening hunger crisis. They have also faced the constant threat of military strikes and ground troops.
The genocide has resulted in the deaths of more than 74,000 Palestinians, according to the Health Ministry in Gaza. The situation remains a point of intense scrutiny for international aid workers. Davis continues to emphasize that his actions were intended to uphold the mission of his former employer.
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