By Arnie Alpert, Active with the Activists

Arnie Alpert spent decades as a community organizer/educator in NH movements for social justice and peace.  Officially retired since 2020, he keeps his hands (and feet) in the activist world while writing about past and present social movements.

DOVER—Six members of the New Hampshire Coalition for a Just Peace in the Middle East met Wednesday with a staffer for U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-NH, calling on the Senator to oppose a new round of arms transfers to Israel.

Amy Antonucci, a Barrington resident and chair of New Hampshire Peace Action, said the group met for about an hour with Chris Scott, the Senator’s Deputy State Director.  Antonucci said Scott heard their concerns about human rights violations and the impact of U.S. weapons.

During the meeting, a group of 18 others held a vigil on a busy street-corner near the Senator’s office, holding a banner reading, “Ceasefire Now.  A Just Peace for All,” as well as other signs.   

“Violence creates violence and is making all of us less safe,” Antonucci said after the meeting with Scott.  Palestinians are the most obvious victims, she said, “but also Israelis and people in Lebanon and throughout the Middle East, and here.  Everywhere.  All of us are less safe when there is more violence.”

The group’s specific request was for Shaheen to support four Joint Resolutions of Disapproval introduced earlier this week by Vermont U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders in opposition to new arms transfers proposed by the Trump administration.  According to a Sanders statement, these include:

·       $6.75 billion for 2,166 Small Diameter Bombs, 2,800 500-pound bombs and tens of thousands of fuzes and Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) guidance kits for use on bombs;

·       $688 million for 15,500 additional JDAM guidance kits for use on bombs and an additional 615 Small Diameter Bombs;

·       $660 million for 3,000 Hellfire Air-to-Ground Missiles; and

·       $312.5 million for 10,000 155 mm High Explosive artillery shells.

Sanders said the export of these weapons would violate the terms of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 and the Arms Export Control Act (AECA).

“Israel had the right to defend itself against Hamas and respond to the barbaric October 7, 2023, terrorist attack, which killed 1,200 innocent people and took over 240 hostages,” the Vermont senator said.  “But Netanyahu’s extremist government has instead waged an all-out war against the entire Palestinian people, killing more than 48,000 and injuring more than 111,000 – the vast majority of whom are women and children.”

In response to the peace group’s request, a spokesperson for Senator Shaheen said, “As Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Shaheen has a particular responsibility to ensure that all U.S. arms sales adhere to strict standards. While the committee upholds Israel’s right to self-defense on a bipartisan basis, the arms sales that Senator Sanders plans to object to continue to undergo a review. We are in direct conversations with Senator Sanders’ office on this matter.”

Sanders introduced a similar resolution last year, which won the support of Senator Shaheen.  Although it didn’t pass, the peace activists believe it still sent a message that the White House does not have unilateral control over foreign and military policy.  

Jessica Bolker, a Dover resident who was part of the group meeting with Scott, said they talked about Shaheen’s role and the group’s hope that Shaheen would take a stand against “the horrific stuff that is being done in our name and with our tax dollars in Gaza.”  Bolker, a member of Not In My Name, a group of Jewish New Hampshire residents who have been critical of Israel’s devastating response to the October 7 atrocities, decried “the way that American-financed and provided weapons are being used on civilians.”

Others in the meeting included representatives of 911 Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, the Community Church of Durham, Veterans for Peace, and Dover Friends Meeting.  The group praised the senator for signing onto Sanders’ previous resolution. 

Since the fall of 2023, the Coalition for a Just Peace in the Middle East has held regular vigils outside Shaheen’s Dover office, alternating weekly with U.S. Representative Chris Pappas’ office a mile up the road.   While the group praised Shaheen Wednesday for favoring some restrictions on U.S. aid to Israel, they criticized Pappas and noted he is a favorite of AIPAC, the powerful lobbying group which consistently has backed policies carried out by Israel’s government.

Amy Antonucci and the Rev. David Grishaw-Jones, who was also part of the meeting with Scott, were among the five people arrested at a Pappas office sit-in last May.  They were found guilty of criminal trespass, but used their court appearances to voice objections to human rights abuses committed by Israel with the support of the United States.   

After the Wednesday vigil, another group of five peace activists delivered a letter to a Shaheen staffer stating, “We were proud and appreciative when you voted for the JRDs back in November 2023.  We appeal to you to support, cosponsor and vote for the JRDs this time.” 

Another delegation, with some overlap of participants, met with a member of Senator Maggie Hassan’s staff Thursday.  Organized by the Friends Committee on National Legislation, a Quaker group, this meeting focused on the importance of delivering humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza.