Acts of antisemitism, like the Boulder attack, are normalized by the silence of too many leaders (Opinion)

On a tranquil Sunday afternoon in Boulder people including an -year-old Holocaust survivor were set on fire The majority of survivors are Jewish and were part of a public 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 days ago and taken to Gaza during Hamas horrific terrorist attack on October th Others coming to the aid of the targeted casualties were also injured 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 straightaway flooded the Internet and displayed Soliman throwing Molotov cocktails and using a flamethrower as he shouted Free Palestine He also was seen yelling we need to end Zionists This was not a few ambiguous act of violence It was an obvious act of terrorism and hate crime against Jews The FBI wasted no time Sunday in labeling it as a targeted act of violence and a scarce short hours later at about p m FBI Director Kash Patel posted on X that it was a targeted terror attack Both statements underscored the agency s recognition of Soliman s obvious motive behind this heinous crime A large number of local news outlets stated Patel s and Polis statements and Gov Jared Polis posted on X a scarce minutes after Patel calling the attack a heinous act of terror A small group of Colorado Democratic leaders including Sen Michael Bennet Congressman Joe Neguse and Congresswoman Brittany Pettersen also didn t hesitate to call it a terrorist attack against Jews in early statements Labeling matters but in those crucial first hours there was hesitation from much of the mainstream media and local law enforcement which systematically avoided using the term terrorism in the headlines of their initial coverage and in official reports made to the residents And despite the FBI rapidly classifying it as an obvious terrorist attack a great number of Democratic executives were silent and those who did speak out often used words like attack and happening or generic hate with no attribution that this act of terror targeted Jews Why didn t this case erupt into universal and immediate condemnation Why haven t our leaders urgently convened to better understand the full scope of this terrorist attack The same lack of outrage happened with other latest high-profile incidents like Gov Josh Shapiro s house being set on fire by a person who accused the governor of violence against Palestinians And it happened last month when Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim 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 Free free Palestine These acts were perpetrated against Jews because they were Jewish And each time there is a celebration in certain quarters and less outrage in the bulk these acts are steadily becoming normalized Even now after Soliman reported investigators that he planned the terrorist attack for a year and desired to kill all Zionist people and wished they were all dead a multitude of leaders as well as progressive and minority party caucuses have remained conspicuously silent about this heinous act of targeted terror Are they afraid to speak out against radical elements within the Free Palestine movement or do they just not care enough about Jews being burned Either way silence serves to normalize antisemitism Of subject 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 from the river to the sea taunt and harass Jews and outwardly advocate for globalizing the intifada They are breeding antisemitism and radicalizing followers under the false guise of social justice Too multiple Democratic executives seem reluctant to confront the elephant in the room They d rather cower by staying silent or walking on eggshells in order to avoid being targeted themselves Words have consequences and as we have seen in the Middle East and Europe it s 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 According to the Anti-Defamation League anti-Jewish incidents in were higher than the previous year They have skyrocketed by more than since Colorado ranked ninth in the nation in for antisemitic incidents While Jews make up only of the United States population they represent percent of all announced religion-based crime 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 safety protocols even to the point of having a safeguard guard on the roof of local synagogues during services to ensure the highest level of preparedness and a faster response There s not a Jewish day school in America that hasn t implemented new plans to protect children and students Various of my Jewish friends have purchased firearms and training for self-defense Related Articles Boulder JCC to hold Wednesday evening vigil for Pearl Street attack casualties Feds detain wife children of suspect in Boulder fire attack for deportation How the Boulder fire attack unfolded Calm confusion chaos he s out to kill Antisemitic terror attack on Boulder s Pearl Street Mall planned for a year FBI says new casualties unveiled The Boulder attack should deepen Colorado s advocacy for the Jewish society Editorial There can be no sitting on the sidelines in the face of terrorism Refusing to timely and unequivocally call terrorism by its name exacerbates why Jews are targeted It is not completely a failure of vocabulary but a failure of our collective responsibility to meet the gravity of the moment Jew hatred must be confronted as the serious threat it is even when it hides behind the banner of Free Palestine As Martin Luther King Jr aptly disclosed in the end we will remember not the words of our enemies but the silence of our friends Doug Friednash grew up in Denver and is a partner with the law firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber and Schreck He is the former chief of staff for Gov John Hickenlooper Sign up for Sound Off to get a weekly roundup of our columns editorials and more To send a letter to the editor about this article submit online or check out our guidelines for how to submit by email or mail