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NAACP Asks Biden to Halt Weapons to Israel as He Seeks to Shore Up Black Voter Support
US President Joe Biden speaks with President and CEO of NAACP Derrick Johnson at the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, US, May 17, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Leah Millis
The NAACP urged President Joe Biden on Thursday to “indefinitely” halt all weapons deliveries to Israel and pressure the US ally to end its war in the Gaza Strip, sending a reminder that his support for Israel could hurt him among Black voters in November’s election.
The NAACP’s call was a rare instance of the influential civil rights organization taking a position on US foreign policy towards a country without a significant Black population. It appeared likely to deepen the Democratic president’s election-year challenges as he tries to back a key ally abroad and temper unrest among his supporters at home.
The 115-year-old civil rights group said Israel had a right to defend itself after the Hamas terrorist attacks on Oct. 7 that killed some 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostages.
The NAACP urged Hamas to return the hostages and “stop all terrorist activity.” It also urged Israel to “commit to an offensive strategy that is aligned with international and humanitarian laws.” Israel has been waging a military campaign against Hamas in Gaza aimed at freeing the hostages and destroying the Palestinian terrorist group, which rules the coastal enclave. Critics have falsely accused the Israeli military of committing genocide against Palestinians during its operations in Gaza.
The NAACP, which has advocated for racial justice and rights for Black Americans, said the US must use its influence with Israel to bring a permanent ceasefire to Gaza.
“The NAACP calls on President Biden to draw the red line and indefinitely end the shipment of all weapons and artillery to the state of Israel and other states that supply weapons to Hamas and other terrorist organizations. It is imperative that the violence that has claimed so many civilian lives, immediately stop,” the organization said in a statement first provided to Reuters.
The NAACP stance represents the latest warning sign that Biden may pay a price at the ballot box among Black voters on Nov. 5 for his staunch support of Israel.
Black voters have long been a loyal Democratic constituency, and they played a significant role in Biden’s victory in 2020 when he beat Republican Donald Trump, whom he faces again this year. But polls show a lack of enthusiasm for Biden among Black voters.
Earlier this year, a group of more than 1,000 Black pastors called on Biden to secure a ceasefire in the crisis.
A poll by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in March found that 59 percent of Black Americans believe US military aid to Israel should only be used for self defense and in accordance with human rights standards.
Biden’s re-election campaign is not as concerned that Black voters will shift toward Trump as they are that too many of them may sit out the election due to lack of enthusiasm, campaign officials have told Reuters.
After growing domestic pressure and international outrage, Biden paused a shipment of bombs last month to avoid their possible use in Israel‘s operations in the Gaza city of Rafah. But the pause was limited, and the US remains the top supplier of military aid to Israel.
Biden on Friday said Israel proposed a fresh Gaza ceasefire in exchange for the release of hostages. He called on Hamas to agree to the new offer, saying it was the best way to end the conflict. “It’s time for this war to end and for the day after to begin,” Biden said.
NAACP LEADER CALLS FOR US MORAL LEADERSHIP
In an interview with Reuters, NAACP President Derrick Johnson said the US needs to show moral leadership and stop sending weapons to Israel because of civilian deaths. Israel says it takes care to avoid civilian casualties and blames Hamas for, it says, hiding its fighters and command centers among civilians.
Johnson said the NAACP’s decision to speak out was driven in part by young Black Americans horrified by the images of dead Palestinian civilians on their smart phones.
“It’s raising a lot of questions around why our tax dollars are being used to harm civilians,” Johnson said.
Democrats are deeply divided over Biden’s handling of both the war in Gaza and the US campus protests against it, a May Reuters/Ipsos poll found.
Some 44 percent of Democratic registered voters said they disapproved of Biden’s handling of the crisis. Those who disapproved were less likely to say they would vote for Biden.
The conflict has also stoked US antisemitism, Islamophobia, and xenophobia that Johnson said will continue to grow as the fighting continues. Antisemitic incidents have reached record levels in the US since Oct. 7.
Johnson said the NAACP does not believe Biden’s support for Israel is responsible for the trend but wants the US to more forcefully advance peace by withholding weapons.
“We believe … it’s the responsibility of this nation to chart a course to de-escalate what we are seeing so that there can be a peaceful resolution,” Johnson said.
The post NAACP Asks Biden to Halt Weapons to Israel as He Seeks to Shore Up Black Voter Support first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.