Shortly after the anti-Semitic terrorist attack in Boulder, Colorado last June during which a pro-Hamas agitator killed one person and injured 15 others by hurling Molotov cocktails at Jews holding a vigil for the hostages, I drew attention to an article by Trevor Hughes for USA Today which lamented the community not rallying around its Jewish residents. Hughes wrote in part:
But instead of bringing the community together, the attack appears to have exacerbated fault lines across this wealthy, liberal city where pro-Palestinian protests verging on outright antisemitism have become a way of life for elected leaders and college students.
After the attack, someone posted "Wanted" signs on the Pearl Street Mall just steps from the scene, naming the majority of city council members guilty of "complicity in genocide" for refusing to pass a ceasefire resolution and not divesting from businesses that are helping Israel wage its war against Hamas.
Hughes further noted, "There had never been physical violence against the group, but there were insults, jeers, accusations that the marchers themselves support genocide. Turnquist and others who have marched said they often felt unsafe."
In response to Hughes' article, I commented:
In other words, the seeds of violence had been planted, fertilized and now grown into a nightmarish bloom.
Yet we must ask questions of those who see fit to yell at those who only seek to see the release of the hostages.
If someone feels the need to yell at someone who wants to see the release of the hostages, then one must reasonably conclude that those people not only support Hamas taking people into captivity but would delight if Hamas were to kill them because they are Jews.
Such attitudes say more about them than they do about the people who wish the hostages to be freed.
One can only hope the community of Boulder will turn out in large numbers tomorrow. But even if it does, the tolerance for anti-Semitism will remain and likely fester.
Then again if the community of Boulder doesn't turn for Run for their Lives and their Jewish community, then it will mean Jews in Boulder are on their own. And perhaps all of America.
Well, I'm sad to say that anti-Semitism in Boulder remains and continues to fester to the point that Jews who march in support of the hostages still being held by Hamas have gone into hiding. As per the Boulder Jewish News:
Following weeks of escalating harassment and threats, the Boulder chapter of Run for Their Lives announced this week that future walks will no longer be publicly advertised and will take place under heavy security at undisclosed locations. The decision comes less than three months after a Molotov cocktail attack on the weekly walk left one person dead and 15 injured.
Since October 7, 2023, Boulder residents have joined thousands worldwide in peaceful, apolitical weekly walks to call attention to the hostages still held in Gaza by Hamas. For nearly two years, these walks have been the symbol of resilience and solidarity. Now organizers say they can no longer safely gather in public.
In recent weeks, anti-Israel protesters, including a candidate for Boulder City Council, have stalked and screamed vile insults at participants, even mentioning organizers’ children. The Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) has reviewed videos where protestors hurled slurs like “genocidal c**t,” “racist,” and “Nazi.” The harassment has spilled into Boulder City Council meetings, where Jewish residents have been intimidated and bullied.
What this means is that Jews are being driven out of American civil society in part by thine own hand. I wrote of this when I attended an American Jewish Committee meeting in December 2023:
Anti-Semitism is, as they put it, in plain sight following Hamas attack against Israel almost two months ago. It is out in the open for everyone to see. From where I sit, the only way to combat anti-Semitism is for Jews and their allies to be in plain sight and out in the open.
Therein lies the problem. This meeting was not publicly advertised. I found out about it because I'm on AJC's email list. Synagogues and Jewish community centers have very tight security at the best of times. But to give you an idea of how serious things are when it comes to threats against Jews and Jewish organizations, we were not informed of the location of the meeting until yesterday afternoon.
While I am heartened by the fact that close to 200 people showed up for this event, for all intents and purposes this was an underground meeting. We were in hiding of AJC's choosing. How long will it be before the government tells Jews we cannot peacefully assemble in public?
That Jews in the United States cannot openly meet to discuss anti-Semitism (or anything else for that matter) does not bode well for American democracy but the very notion of civil society and civic engagement. Keep in mind those who have expressed their anti-Semitism in public are quite proud of themselves and have made their views known without fear of consequence for their behavior.
Yoeli emphasized the importance for Jews "to engage, educate and stand up." She added, "Now is not the time to retreat in fear."
Yet nothing says retreating in fear more than holding a meeting in secret.
Meanwhile pro-Hamas agitators display their anti-Semitism with pride. Just yesterday during an otherwise pleasant Saturday afternoon with a friend, we came across a group of several dozen pro-Hamas agitators in the Seaport District chanting, "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!!!" They were confident and full of pride. And why not? They have the wind at their back, and no one is prepared to stop them. Meanwhile, Jews must now go into hiding.
All of which is a larger part of the "global intifada" that NYC mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani so proudly supports. In recent days, this "global intifada" has taken the form of British Jews being kicked out of a restaurant in Greece for trying to clean anti-Semitic graffiti and being shouted at by patrons as they were ejected and an elderly Jewish woman being stabbed at a kosher grocery store in Ottawa, Both of these incidents are worthy of comment in their own right.
Yet what has happened in Boulder is a microcosm of what has happened since October 7th. Jews are assaulted and murdered, and the reaction is more hatred against Jews and admiration for those who attacked us. All of which means things are going to get a lot worse before they get better. In which case, a lot of Jews will never live to see things get better.
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