The NAACP has called on President Joe Biden in a new letter to stop sending weapons to Israel and use the influence of the United States to end the war in Gaza.
The letter from the civil rights group comes days after Biden said on May 31 that Israel had proposed a new ceasefire plan and urged Hamas to accept it. He said: “It is time for this war to end and the next day to begin. He said in the surprise announcement that he was outlining a ceasefire proposal from Israel that had been relayed to Hamas.
“The Biden administration’s latest statement is helpful, but does not go far enough,” NAACP officials said in a statement. “It is one thing to call for a ceasefire, but it is another to take the measures necessary to work towards liberation for all. It is imperative that the violence that has claimed so many civilian lives stops immediately.”
Biden-Harris campaign spokesperson Sarafina Chitika said in an emailed statement: “The President shares the goal of an end to violence and a just, lasting peace in the Middle East, and he is working tirelessly toward that goal.”
“The stakes of this election couldn’t be higher, and with our communities, our democracy and our freedoms at stake, our campaign is doing everything we can to earn – not ask for – every vote,” she said.
More than 36,500 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched its offensive following Hamas attacks on October 7, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Nearly 2 million Palestinians have been displaced, The Associated Press reported. According to the AP, about 1,200 people had been killed in Israel by April. Israeli officials have said about 120 people remain held captive in Gaza, with at least a third believed dead.
Biden’s declining support among black voters is increasingly emerging as a factor in the national conversation over his support for Israel. Black communities played a key role in securing Biden’s 2020 victory, with 92% of Black people at the time supporting Biden over Donald Trump. Now, almost four years later, 77% of Black voters say they would vote for Biden. While the war between Israel and Gaza is increasingly important to black voters, economic concerns are the group’s top issue in determining how they will vote in the November elections, according to NPR.
Earlier this year, more than a thousand Black pastors from churches across the country, spurred on by their young parishioners, signed an open letter calling on Biden to push for a ceasefire, The New York Times reported. They also called on Hamas to release all hostages and on Israel to end its occupation of the West Bank. Like the NAACP, the preachers warned that Biden’s support for Israel could hinder him in the election.
Biden has come under increasing pressure in recent months from politicians, students, activists and others to broker a ceasefire and withdraw financial support for Israel’s war effort.
In an April poll by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 68% of black Americans said they wanted the U.S. to support a permanent ceasefire. The number of black Americans who say they feel connected to the Palestinian plight rose from 32% in October to 45% in April. An earlier poll found that while Americans generally tend to support Israel, a majority of black Americans surveyed reject the idea of showing “unwavering support” for Israel, and that they sympathize with Gaza more than others surveyed racial groups.
For more information from NBC BLK, sign up for our weekly newsletter.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
