BOULDER, Colorado — The site of last week’s attack on advocates for the Hamas-held hostages was inundated Sunday by allies of the victims and their cause, burying any concerns that the assault would discourage participation in the weekly vigil.
Thousands of well-wishers joined the Boulder chapter of Run for Their Lives in its weekly walk on the Pearl Street Mall, refusing to be cowed by the violence that sent a half-dozen people to the hospital with burns from a makeshift flamethrower. Authorities are treating the attack as a hate crime.
“A firebomb of hate was meant to bend Boulder with fear,” Susan Rona, Anti-Defamation League Mountain States regional director, told the crowd. “Instead, it has strengthened our will.”
The one-week anniversary of the June 1 attack coincided with the 30th annual Boulder Jewish Festival, which was also held on the popular pedestrian shopping walkway.
“This week has been a week of heartbreak and horror, but today right here on this very street, where a terror attack took place just seven days ago, we are standing here in resilience,” said Jonathan Lev, executive director of the Boulder Jewish Community Center.
The walk, which drew a crowd estimated at more than 2,000 people, also attracted a heavy security presence.
Police snipers could be seen standing atop buildings lining the mall, including the Cartwright Building and the Boulder County Historic Court House, while drones and a helicopter flew overhead.
Those attending the festival sang and danced the hora to “Hava Nagila,” a traditional Israeli folk song, before gathering at Pearl and Broadway to walk toward the courthouse with Run for Their Lives, which has conducted the weekly walk in Boulder since November 2023.
“We are standing here in unity. We are standing here in joy,” Mr. Lev said. “Because that’s what today is about: celebrating who we are, our culture, our music, our spirit, and even as we continue to walk in solidarity with the hostages still held in Gaza, we also gather for our right to gather safely and proudly as a Jewish community.”
Participants carried Israeli and U.S. flags as well as photos of the 55 hostages still under Hamas control following the Oct. 7, 2023, attack which killed 1,200 Israelis and other civilians.
About 30 of the remaining hostages are thought to be dead. A total of 251 Israelis and others were abducted into Gaza after the attack.
Run for Their Lives has grown to 230 chapters on six continents since the group’s first walk, which was held in the Bay Area a week after the hostages were abducted.
Organizers from the Boulder and Denver chapters led the crowd in the chant that concludes each weekly walk: “Bring them home now!”
Jewish Colorado launched the Boulder Security Fund last week to enhance security at Jewish institutions and events as well as offer direct support to victims following the June 1 attack.
“Right now, the eyes of the world are on Boulder, and we can change the course of history,” Mr. Lev said. “By how we show up for one another, we can create a ripple effect that says: Jew hate has no home. Hate has no home here. Hate cannot win.”
The number of victims in the Boulder attack is listed at 15, including seven men and eight women ages 25 to 88. Their injuries range from serious to minor. A dog was also wounded.
Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, an Egyptian national living illegally in the U.S. on an expired visa, was charged Thursday with 118 counts, including 28 counts of attempted first-degree murder, by the Boulder County District Attorney’s Office.
The suspect also faces a federal hate-crime charge in the attack, during which he yelled “Free Palestine!” according to officials. He told authorities he wanted to kill all “Zionist people,” and that he would carry out the attack again, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Colorado.
Ms. Rona said the violence shouldn’t have come as a surprise, given the rise of antisemitic bombast and incidents since the Oct. 7 attack, which prompted Israel to declare war.
“When we allow rhetoric that dehumanizes Jews to spread unchecked, when we normalize calls for violence against Jewish communities, when we fail to distinguish between legitimate criticism of a country or its government, and use that to justify hatred toward Jews, what happened here last week was an inevitable result,” she said.
