Senior Democrat calls for arrests of ‘leftwing fascists’ urging Gaza ceasefire ( www.theguardian.com )

Protesters calling for Israel to cease fire in its war with Hamas who have disrupted US public events and infrastructure are practicing “leftwing fascism” or “leftwing totalitarianism”, a senior US House Democrat said, adding that such protesters are “challenging representative democracy” and should be arrested.

“Intimidation is the tactic,” said Adam Smith of Washington state, the ranking Democrat on the House armed services committee. “Intimidation and an effort to silence opposition … I don’t know if there’s such a thing as leftwing fascism. If you want to just call it leftwing totalitarianism, then that’s what it is. It is a direct challenge to representative democracy now.”

Smith was speaking – before the outbreak this week of mass protests on US college campuses, many producing arrests – to the One Decision Podcast and its guest host Christina Ruffini, a CBS News reporter.

merthyr1831 ,

lemmy user (clueless): Gosh, could you imagine if the other guy wins and starts calling for arrests of people opposing the genocide?

chicken ,

“You come to our town hall meeting, it’s one thing to try to get attention. They got their attention. But literally, they wouldn’t stop screaming insults at me. They wouldn’t … even let me answer the very questions they were raising.

“I got two words into it and they started screaming at me again. So this is a different thing than your standard protest. In my view, the solution to it is if they are committing a crime – which by the way, shutting down a freeway, shutting down an airport, intimidating people, there’s a crime – [they] ought to be arrested.”

Protesting at public figures’ homes should also be subject to arrest, Smith said.

“The point of it is intimidation. And I think it is harassment. It’s a crime, and I think [they should] be arrested for it.

It sounds like what he is complaining about is protestors not being civil, not letting him speak at his own event and going to his house. I don't know if that's a fair complaint given the circumstances, but a little different than the headline implication that he's broadly accusing people objecting to Israel's actions of being fascists.

Maggoty ,

When every answer starts with blaming Hamas for the IDF continuing a genocide you're going to get shouted down.

The point of a Town Hall is to see what your constituents want. I think they made it very clear.

brain_in_a_box ,

You know what else is not civil, and also a crime? Genocide.

istanbullu ,

Democrats are the party of genocide and mass murder.

PoliticalAgitator ,

Isn't it funny how when both sides are actually the same, suddenly it's only Democrats?

imnotfromkaliningrad ,
@imnotfromkaliningrad@lemmy.ml avatar

they are the ones currently commiting the crimes.

PoliticalAgitator ,

Democrats are not sitting in their office ordering aid trucks to be blown up. They're neoliberals funneling public funds to private businesses because that's what neoliberals do.

I'm all for dismantling the military industrial complex and prying greedy neoliberals out of positions of power but voting Republican (or not voting at all) just isn't going to achieve that.

tooLikeTheNope ,

leftwing fascism

hmmm, so does he mean "leftwing rightwingers"?

Omega_Haxors ,

Make nazis afraid again

dylanmorgan ,
<Sees protests with popular support> “That’s totalitarianism, not democracy!”

Christ, what an asshole.

bl_r ,

This person would 1000% call MLK a left wing fascist, fuck this guy

laughterlaughter ,

More like Malcom X, but you have a point.

Leviathan ,

MLK definitely supported rioting as a legitimate form of protest.

bl_r ,

He would call malcom x a fash too.

But don’t forget that MLK was hated by most people during his time, especially white liberals and conservatives. Liberal democrats and conservatives alike seem to have a nasty habit of opposing the current struggles for freedom and equality. If you want to see what people thought of MLK, here is a political comic from the time

nonviolent march

Notice the similarities between this and BLM? If you replace the concept of violent civil rights marches with antisemitic pro-palestine protests, you’ve got another instance of a struggle for freedom and a struggle against genocide being defamed while it is currently happening.

The fact of the matter is liberal democrats support all social justice movements but the current one. In 20 years I will cringe at what democrats say about the plight of the Palestinians, knowing that many are opposed to it right now.

Rottcodd ,

So... is he desperately dishonest or insane?

Because none of that hysterical gibberish made even the slightest bit of sense.

givesomefucks ,

You may remember this guy (Adam Smith) from every other time Israel comes up...

Likewise, AIPAC gave Seattle-area Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA), who has also failed to call for a ceasefire, more money than any other donor this year. Open Secrets found the defense industry and pro-Israel groups earned the top spots for Smith donors.

https://www.thestranger.com/news/2023/12/15/79308454/jewish-protesters-shut-down-university-bridge-during-rush-hour-to-call-for-ceasefire-in-gaza

Dudes getting bribes from AIPAC and pretty much every major defense corporation.

He's taking the money both ways.

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