As Israel's ongoing assault on the Gaza Strip intensified, so too did a movement of pro-Palestinian activists. For them, the 2024 election offered a perfect forum to leverage their opposition to the war. Activists and allies of the Uncommitted movement targeted Democratic lawmakers like Vice President Kamala Harris in the hopes that grassroots electoral pressure could shift the party's support for the Israeli offensive. 

It was a gamble that seems to have failed spectacularly. Not only has the Biden administration barely shifted its staunch pro-Israel policies, but the incoming Trump administration is even more hostile to pro-Palestinian activists. At the same time, the crisis in Gaza has continued unabated. Where do pro-Palestinian activists go from here? 

'Canary in the coal mine'
"Our community is about to be subjected to a lot more surveillance and violence," Uncommitted organizer Abbas Alawieh said to NPR. "Our community won't be alone in that." 

In the Uncommitted movement's epicenter of Dearborn, Michigan — where Trump's win marked the city's first GOP presidential victory since 2000 — there's a "complex mix of disbelief and wary curiosity," with residents "wondering what Trump will do for Palestinians," said Slate. "I think he's going to target us," said Alawieh. "He's going to target our families, and it's going to hurt." 

Pro-Palestinian activism is "in many ways, the canary in the coal mine," said Adalah Justice Project Executive Director Sandra Tamari to Politico. "Our organizations are under more threats because what all those authoritarian forces would love to do is to shut down any dissent in the country."

'Some self-criticism is due'
Trump's reelection is "scary," said Palestinian American policy analyst Abdelhalim Abdelrahman to NBC News. But while there will likely be "a lot of pro-Israel rhetoric," there will be a "little bit more diplomacy," as well. Massad Boulos, the president-elect's campaign envoy to Michigan's Arab and Muslim community, will have a "little bit more operational freedom than people realize in this administration." 

At the same time, "some self-criticism is due in the pro-Palestinian movement," said Arab American Institute founder James Zogby to Politico. By "not enabling themselves to support Harris," activists "boxed themselves into a corner." With "less leverage in Washington" than under the Biden administration, said Politico, activists will "shift to more local political tactics, including economic pressure campaigns like boycotts, supporting protests and community organizing."

"Sesame Street" has loomed large in the imaginations of American children for a half-century. Big Bird? Bert and Ernie? Elmo? What would childhood look like without them? Everyone might soon find out.

The show is "facing significant business and creative hurdles as it enters its 55th season," said The Washington Post. New episodes have premiered on HBO and its streaming service, Max, since 2016, but the company is not renewing the show's contract, and "Sesame Street" has yet to find a replacement network or streaming service. 

What did the commentators say?
The show's young target audience "might not care" about its future, Candice Frederick said at HuffPost. The show still aims to help children with "social, emotional and literacy skills," but some observers say the show "lost a lot of appeal to its core audience years ago." Marilisa Jiménez García, an associate professor of childhood studies at Rutgers University-Camden, said the show backed away from its core educational mission to emphasize "puppets, puppets, puppets, cartoons, cartoons, cartoons."

The series is "more essential than ever," Alan Sepinwall said at Rolling Stone. At a historical moment when "we have grown increasingly tribal and isolated from one another," the ethos of "Sesame Street" is that people of different backgrounds "can be best pals despite disagreeing on almost everything." 

It's "awfully troubling" that the show's future is now in doubt, but it's still such a big brand that it's easy to "imagine Apple or another streamer stepping in to rescue Big Bird, Oscar the Grouch and friends." A television landscape without "Sesame Street" would be "much emptier and sadder."

What next?
The show is being "reimagined" for the future, said The Hollywood Reporter. A 56th season, if it happens, will feature a shift away from the show's current "magazine" format of multiple short segments in favor of "two longer more narrative-driven segments." 

Children have changed, say the show's producers, which means "Sesame Street" must also change. Kim Wilson Stallings, the executive vice president of Sesame Workshop, said the creators of "Sesame Street" always imagined it "like an experiment."