Israeli-owned Elbit Systems is a defense contractor that has a facility in my hometown of Merrimack. Elbit has been the target of pro-Palestinian activists, and this week, they targeted the facility in my town, which earned objections across the political spectrum.
Local Democrats and Republicans denounced the activism with more or less canned unanimity, but US House Rep. Chris Pappas tripped over his own feet.
“Peaceful protest and political expression are hallmarks of our civil discourse. Vandalism and violent acts are crimes to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” Pappas said.”
I think Mr. Pappas has some explaining to do.
As a rank-and-file rubber-stamp ‘House’ Democrat, Congressman Pappas can be relied upon to toe the party line. This poses problems. The BLM protests in 2020 were not all peaceful. Most of them were not. Pappas never explicitly endorsed that behavior, but he was quick to ape the approved narrative of mostly peaceful protests. He was repeating verbatim the approved talking points, blaming third parties for the violence, and ignoring the acts of insurrection against public and federal buildings (or at least giving them the same theoretical treatment). He even repeated this gem.
” I’ve been deeply concerned with some of the scenes we’ve witnessed across the country where peaceful protests have been disrupted with tools like tear gas. You know, concerned about what we saw happen in front of the White House, where a peaceful crowd of protesters was cleared out for a photo op for the president of the United States. So we’ve got to make sure whatever we do moving forward, that we are living up to our constitutional ideals, including the right for peaceful assembly. And it’s important that we hear these protesters and make sure that they can safely communicate their message and not be disrupted.”
The protest he mentioned outside the White House was anything but peaceful, which was why it had to be cleared, and it wasn’t a photo-op (unless you mean the tear gas for the machine press). I also doubt he’s ever read any opinion that would contradict his own. No proper “House” Democrat would. So, while his recent remarks continue a trend of pro-Israel rhetoric to cover early missteps, he should be careful when it comes to using the words peaceful and protest – or acts, crimes, and prosecuted.
His party has a long and messy history of political violence, supported by members high ranked and low, that he has not made time to denounce or who have not been charged or prosecuted for “Vandalism and violent acts… to the fullest extent of the law.
