The sparks flying in New Hampshire’s Republican U.S. Senate primary have gotten more attention, but the Democrats’ race is generating heat of its own. Progressive peace activist Karishma Manzur is taking direct aim at four-term U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas, accusing him of enabling “genocide” in Gaza and failing to stand up to President Donald Trump.
Manzur, a medical scientist with a Ph.D. in biochemistry and molecular biology, describes herself as a peace activist and is active in the New Hampshire Coalition for a Just Peace in the Middle East. On Sunday, she appeared at a “Gaza Town Hall” in Wilton, hosted by the New England Network for Justice in Palestine, a group known for its opposition to Israel.
Earlier in the day, WMUR aired an interview with Adam Sexton in which she laid out what she sees as the biggest differences between herself and the congressman.
“Chris Pappas does not support universal health care. I do,” Manzur said. “Chris Pappas has been approving billions of dollars of weapons to Israel to fuel a genocide. I don’t. Chris Pappas has been taking money from special interest groups, and he has received over $800,000 from AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) alone. I will never do that.
“And Chris Pappas is being steamrolled by the GOP — the Republicans as well as Donald Trump. I will bring bold leadership to Congress. I will have the courage to stand up and protect our democracy and our country.”
The Pappas campaign declined to respond to a request for comment.
Pappas, a Manchester Democrat, has been one of the House members most willing to cross party lines to support pro-Israel legislation. While U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) has opposed some military aid to Israel, Pappas has consistently voted yes.
Last April, for example. Pappas joined 20 fellow congressional Democrats in demanding that Columbia University leaders either confront the violent, anti-Israel protests on their campus or quit. And he publicly supported Israel’s decision to bomb Iran’s nuclear program at a time when many Democrats would not.
Criticizing Israel is common among progressive Democrats, but Manzur’s rhetoric goes further. She accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government of seeking to kill “every Palestinian in the entire region.”
“There are 7.1 million people who, as of 2023, live in either the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, or East Jerusalem and other enclaves,” she said. “Benjamin Netanyahu and his ultra-right-wing government have made it very clear that they want to annihilate all 7.1 million people.”
She claimed Israel has already killed 680,000 people in Gaza, nearly one-third of the enclave’s 2.1 million residents.
That claim has been debunked; the figure originates from a speculative analysis widely criticized for statistical flaws, including a claim that 380,000 infants had died. (That’s a larger number than the entire population of Gazans under age five).
However, while it may sound shocking, claiming Israel wants to murder all of the millions of Palestinians in the region is simply a more concrete expression of the accusation that Israel is engaged in genocide. That’s the stated position of many elected Democrats.
Pappas, who has Shaheen’s endorsement in the race to replace her in the Senate, is widely viewed as a heavy favorite for the nomination. But political observers note the passion within the Democratic Party appears to be with the progressives.
They point to figures such as New York Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani and members of the Squad in Congress. And then there’s New Hampshire’s own Carol Shea-Porter, who in 2006 upset the party establishment and went on to defeat incumbent Republican Jeb Bradley in the 1st Congressional District.
Whether Manzur can tap into similar grassroots energy remains to be seen. But her aggressive attacks on Pappas’ record on Israel are likely to keep this divisive issue front and center in the Democratic primary.
