In the immediate aftermath of what officials are calling an antisemitic terror attack on Pearl Street that injured 12 people on Sunday, the Boulder Jewish Community Center is focused on how it can help those affected.
“Our focus right now is on the families, the victims, the people who witnessed this atrocity, and making sure that we are in community supporting them and supporting each other,” said Jonathan Lev, the executive director of the Boulder Jewish Community Center.
Lev said the Boulder Jewish Community Center is working with other Jewish leaders in Boulder to provide support to each of the families. Support and resources are being provided on an individual basis, Lev said. The organization is also working with law enforcement and is fully focused on the safety and security of the Jewish community at this time.
“The challenge we face right now is how rhetoric can escalate to the point that violence becomes OK,” Lev said. “That is not an OK way to operate as a society, as a people. And what we’ve seen locally and what we’ve seen on a national and international level regarding Jewish hate and antisemitism … that fosters an environment that makes it unsafe to be Jewish. It creates an environment where violence becomes part of the norm.”
‘There are no words’
Twelve people suffered burns and other injuries on Sunday after a man attacked them on Pearl Street in Boulder with what officials called a “makeshift flamethrower” and an incendiary device.
The attack happened at 1:26 p.m. Sunday outside of the Boulder County Courthouse during a weekly walk organized by the city’s chapter of Run for Their Lives, which calls for the release of hostages held by the terrorist group Hamas.
Lev said the Boulder Jewish Community Center is working on a gathering for the community.
“We know how important it is to come together to support one another and connect with one another to make sure that the message these people had is able to be transmitted to everyone,” he said.
That message, Lev said, is that the Run for Their Lives walk is a peaceful, non-political walk to highlight the fact that there are still hostages in Gaza.
“These are the most peaceful, loving, humanitarian people you can possibly imagine who have dedicated their lives to this kind of work,” Lev said.
Police have arrested a 45-year-old man, Mohamed Sabry Soliman, on suspicion of eight felonies, including attempted first-degree murder and first-degree assault. Soliman, who federal officials said was living in Colorado illegally, has been charged with a federal hate crime, according to a Federal Bureau of Investigation arrest affidavit.
None of the victims had died as of Monday morning, according to police.
“There are no words to describe this that would be an appropriate encapsulation of the devastation, the horror, the fear, the outrage that we’re all feeling right now in response to this attack,” said Shara Smith, the CEO of the Interfaith Alliance of Colorado.
The Interfaith Alliance of Colorado is a public policy and advocacy organization that joins together and represents more than 400 congregations and two dozen faith traditions statewide. Smith said she’s hearing from the Jewish members of their community about feelings of devastation, hurt, fear and outrage.
“There’s also a sense of wondering in terms of whether or not people will understand the impact this has on the Jewish community. It’s really important to us as an interfaith organization that we take this as an attack on all of us and not just one community, because ultimately we are one family,” Smith said. ” … What I’m hearing from our Jewish brothers and sisters in this moment is a desire to be seen as human beings, and we want them to know that we see them.
“We see you, we love you and we know this is horrible. We are not going to sit quietly while our Jewish brothers and sisters are attacked and we won’t sit quietly when anyone at our family table is attacked. We will always speak up.”
‘Shocked and upset’
The Boulder Jewish Community Center has its 30th Boulder Jewish Festival scheduled for 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday on Pearl Street. If held as planned, the festival would take place in the same place as the attack, exactly a week later.
Lev said the Jewish Community Center will share with the community what will happen regarding the event. No decisions have yet been made.
“We’re looking at it and seeing what might be possible and what might be right at this challenging time for our community,” Lev said.
Lev said the Boulder Jewish Festival is one of the longest continually existing Jewish festivals in the country.
“The Boulder Jewish Festival is a really important day for the Boulder community,” Lev said.
Boulder has one of the largest Jewish communities in the country per capita, Lev said. There are more than 19,000 Jewish households with more than 35,000 people in them in Boulder County, Lev said, citing a study from 2018.
He said the Jewish community in Boulder is vibrant, with many synagogues and community gatherings and activities.
“It has become a beacon for what Jewish life can look like throughout the country,” he said.
University of Colorado Boulder student Gil Eskayo and Boulder residents Caleb Loewengart and Maya Winkler visited the site of the attack on Monday wearing Jewish clothes, jewelry and imagery.
“Yesterday I was very shocked and upset and frustrated (as) more news was coming out,” Winkler said. “Today, I’m more of, ‘Ok, how can I turn this darkness into light?’”
To Eskayo, who recently returned from a trip to Israel, the attack was representative of a larger wave of anti-Semitic attacks.
“To speak for a lot of the people in Israel, we don’t want the fighting. We’re asking our government to stop. We want the hostages to come home, bodies to come back to their families. We want it to end, and we don’t want people to kill us anymore,” Eskayo said. “Wars are fought between nations, not people … I have no problem with anyone who’s Muslim or Arab, I love them.
“I went and hung out with one of my Muslim friends right after this event yesterday and we just connected with each other because we’re both people. We’re not fighting each other.”
Loewengart and Winkler haven’t felt too unsafe as Jewish people in Boulder. There are days when Winkler hides her Star of David necklace, and there are others when she proudly shows it off, she said. Sunday was the first time that Loewengart, a Centaurus High School graduate and lifelong area resident, felt unsafe to be Jewish in the community.
“I do think that people who live in Boulder are loving, caring people and (I) really, really do think that, as a community, coming out of this we’ll only be stronger,” said Loewengart, who thinks that there isn’t enough of a conversation on the remaining hostages and how antisemitism can hit close to home. “I think this was an incident where a lot of non-Jewish people really realized how much of a present threat it is, and why Jewish people have been so vigilant over the past two years.”
‘It’s time for everybody to speak up’
Stefanie Clarke, the co-executive director of Stop Antisemitism Colorado, said the attack is part of a larger trend. She referenced the incident where a gunman killed two Israeli embassy employees in Washington. Locally, people protesting the Israel-Hamas conflict have continuously disrupted Boulder City Council meetings. At CU Boulder, police investigated anti-Semitic graffiti sprayed on several campus buildings, and the Jewish community on campus felt unsafe after a statement of support for Palestine was made by the Ethnic Studies Department.
“We have been trying to sound the alarm for months and months, since Oct 7, (2023), and it’s time to put an end to this dangerous rhetoric, and it’s time for the Boulder community to come together with the Jewish people,” Clarke said. “It’s time for everybody to speak up and condemn this unequivocally.”
She added that this kind of event could happen anywhere, and it will continue to happen unless people do something about it.
“The thought of Jews being lit on fire in the middle of Pearl Street is one of the most shockingly outrageous things that I can imagine,” Clarke said.
Smith, the CEO of Interfaith Alliance of Colorado, said it’s never OK for anyone to “use our streets and community” as a place to target people and carry out their vengeance for a political agenda.
“In every sense of the word this is horrific and this is devastating, but we are also determined to step forward in this moment and remind everyone of our shared humanity and remind folks not to give in to voices of division that are screaming loudly now and in the days to come,” Smith said.
Moving forward, Smith said, it will be critical to see each other’s humanity, deepen understanding of one another and engage in dialogue.
“Compassion requires courage. Dialogue requires courage. Violence does not,” Smith said. “ … We are not going to allow anyone’s hatred to divide us, and that is the most important thing to keep in mind in this moment.”
Lev said he’s especially grateful to the first responders for their compassion when helping the victims of the attack. He added that there has been an outpouring of support from Boulder community members, organizations and elected officials locally and statewide.
He hopes all organizations and people locally will not just condemn the attack but take action, like by calling out hate speech on an individual level in day-to-day life.
“In that solidarity, we want people to condemn antisemitism to stop and help us stop the rhetoric that happens here in our community, so we can live in a way that this Jewish community and all Jewish communities around the world can be vibrant and thriving versus being threatened,” Lev said.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( ‘There are no words’: Community horrified at Pearl Street Mall attack )
Also on site :
- Dillon Lawson believes he’s changed for the better two years after his Yankees firing
- DRS, June 8: BCCI’s Shreyas Iyer plan, Bumrah can play all 5 Tests & Sudharsan to open with Jaiswal?
- USA Swimming National Championships Final Results: Katie Ledecky and Bobby Finke dominate distance freestyle events