{"id":603,"date":"2025-06-04T16:58:09","date_gmt":"2025-06-04T16:58:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sewellconsultancy.com\/?p=603"},"modified":"2025-06-09T03:09:11","modified_gmt":"2025-06-09T03:09:11","slug":"acts-of-antisemitism-like-the-boulder-attack-are-normalized-by-the-silence-of-too-many-leaders-opinion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.sewellconsultancy.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/04\/acts-of-antisemitism-like-the-boulder-attack-are-normalized-by-the-silence-of-too-many-leaders-opinion\/","title":{"rendered":"Acts of antisemitism, like the Boulder attack, are normalized by the silence of too many leaders (Opinion)"},"content":{"rendered":"

On a tranquil Sunday afternoon in Boulder, 15 people, including an 88-year-old Holocaust survivor<\/a>, were set on fire.<\/p>\n

The majority of survivors are Jewish and were part of a community event on the Pearl Street Mall in Boulder, organized by Run for Their Lives, a global movement. The Boulder chapter held weekly, peaceful walks dedicated to bringing home innocent hostages that were kidnapped over 600 days ago and taken to Gaza during Hamas\u2019 horrific terrorist attack on October 7th. Others coming to the aid of the targeted victims were also injured.<\/p>\n

Mohammed Sabry Soliman, an Egyptian national who was here illegally, has been accused of arming himself with at least a dozen Molotov cocktails and a makeshift flamethrower. Eyewitness accounts and videotaped evidence immediately flooded the Internet and showed Soliman throwing Molotov cocktails and using a flamethrower as he shouted \u201cFree Palestine.\u201d\u00a0 He also was seen yelling, \u201cwe need to end Zionists\u201d.<\/p>\n

This was not some ambiguous act of violence. It was an obvious act of terrorism and hate crime against Jews.<\/p>\n

\"This
This video still shows Mohammed Sabry Soliman holding Molotov cocktails in front of the Boulder County Courthouse on the Pearl Street Mall in Boulder on Sunday, June 1, 2025. Soliman is accused of injuring 12 people on Boulder\u2019s Pearl Street Mall with a \u201cmakeshift flamethrower\u201d and Molotov cocktails, spending more than a year planning the \u201ctargeted act of violence\u201d against a group calling for the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza, law enforcement officials said Monday. (Video still via Brian Horwitz)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The FBI wasted no time Sunday<\/a> in labeling it as a “targeted act of violence,” and a few short hours later, at about 3:30 p.m., FBI Director Kash Patel, posted on X that it was ” a targeted terror attack.” Both statements underscored the agency\u2019s recognition of Soliman\u2019s obvious motive behind this heinous crime.<\/p>\n

Many local news outlets reported Patel’s statement quickly, and Gov. Jared Polis posted on X a few minutes after Patel, calling the attack a \u201cheinous act of terror.\u201d A small group of Colorado Democratic leaders, including Sen. Michael Bennet, Congressman Joe Neguse, and Congresswoman Brittany Pettersen, also didn\u2019t hesitate to call it a terrorist attack against Jews in early statements.<\/p>\n

Labeling matters, but in those crucial first hours, there was hesitation from much of the mainstream media and local law enforcement<\/a>, which carefully avoided using the term \u201cterrorism\u201d in the headlines of their initial coverage and in official reports made to the public. And, despite the FBI quickly classifying it as an obvious terrorist attack, many Democratic officials were silent, and those who did speak out often used words like \u201cattack\u201d and \u201cincident\u201d or generic hate with no attribution that this act of terror targeted Jews.<\/p>\n

Why didn’t this incident erupt into universal and immediate condemnation? Why haven’t our leaders\u00a0urgently\u00a0convened to better understand\u00a0the full scope of this\u00a0terrorist attack?<\/p>\n

The same lack of outrage happened with other recent high-profile incidents like Gov. Josh Shapiro\u2019s house being set on fire by a person who accused the governor of violence against Palestinians. And, it happened last month when Yaron Lischinsky, 30, and Sarah Lynn Milgrim, 26, were murdered in cold blood after attending a Young Diplomats Reception hosted by the American Jewish Committee at the Washington, D.C., Capital Jewish Museum by a man shouting, \u201cFree, free Palestine.\u201d These acts were perpetrated against Jews because they were Jewish. And each time there is a celebration in certain quarters and less outrage in most, these acts are steadily becoming normalized.<\/p>\n

\"People
People gather to light candles in a makeshift memorial to honor Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim who were killed as they left an event at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, during a candlelight vigil outside of the White House in Washington, Thursday, May 22, 2025. (AP Photo\/Jose Luis Magana)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Even now, after Soliman told investigators that he planned the terrorist attack<\/a> for a year and wanted to \u201ckill all Zionist people and wished they were all dead,\u201d many leaders, as well as progressive and minority party caucuses, have remained conspicuously silent about this heinous act of targeted terror.<\/p>\n

Are they afraid to speak out against radical elements within the Free Palestine movement, or do they simply not care enough about Jews being burned? Either way, silence serves to normalize antisemitism.<\/p>\n

Of course, not every supporter of Palestinian rights endorses violence. But make no mistake, we have witnessed a historical rise of antisemitism, and a reign of terror against Jews from parts of the Free Palestine movement. A growing radical crusade within these organizations and movements in which they hide their faces like the Ku Klux Klan, carry Hamas flags, use Hamas military symbols, chant \u201cfrom the river to the sea\u201d, taunt and harass Jews, and outwardly advocate for globalizing the intifada.<\/p>\n

They are breeding antisemitism and radicalizing followers under the false guise of social justice. Too many Democratic officials seem reluctant to confront the elephant in the room.\u00a0 They\u2019d rather cower by staying silent or walking on eggshells in order to avoid being targeted themselves.<\/p>\n

Words have consequences, and as we have seen in the Middle East and Europe, it\u2019s only a matter of time before people like Mohammed Soliman, Elias Rodriguez and Cody Balmer are radicalized and more Jews are burned, assaulted, murdered, or have their houses or synagogues set on fire.<\/p>\n

According to the Anti-Defamation League, anti-Jewish incidents in 2024 were 41% higher than the previous year. They have skyrocketed by more than 373% since 2020. Colorado ranked ninth in the nation in 2024 for antisemitic incidents. While Jews make up only 2% of the United States population, they represent 68 percent of all reported religion-based crime.<\/p>\n

Jews in America, like me, are angry. We have never experienced this dangerous level of antisemitism and violence in our lifetimes. All Colorado synagogues have enhanced their security protocols, even to the point of having a security guard on the roof of local synagogues during services to ensure the highest level of preparedness and a faster response.\u00a0 There\u2019s not a Jewish day school in America that hasn\u2019t implemented new plans to protect children and students. Many of my Jewish friends have purchased firearms and training for self-defense.<\/p>\n