“Free Palestine!”
That was the war cry 45-year-old Mohamed Sabry Soliman shouted after he hurled Molotov Cocktails at peaceful demonstrators from the Colorado chapter of the Run For Their Lives organization on June 1 in Boulder. He also sprayed them with a makeshift flame thrower. At least a dozen people were injured, some critically, and less than a month later, 82-year-old Karen Diamond succumbed to her burn injuries while in the hospital on June 30. The ages of the victims ranged from 25–82, and include a Holocaust survivor. According to press reports, Soliman is set to enter a guilty plea to murder charges on Sept. 9.
Run For Their Lives is a global organization focused on bringing attention to the 50 hostages still being held by Hamas terrorists in Gaza since they attacked mostly civilian Israelis and foreign nationals in Southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. More than 1,200 people were murdered in the single worst attack on Jews recorded since the Holocaust. Accounts of sexual violence, beheadings, and even entire families being buned alive permeate the stories that came out of Hamas terror incursion. More than 250 people were also taken hostage, and 50 remain hidden in the vast network of “terror tunnels” carved by Hamas underneath Gaza that dwarfs the mileage covered by the New York City subway system. As of Sept. 4, these hostages will have been held in captivity for 698 days.
Run For Your Lives is dedicated solely to bringing attention to the hostages still in Hamas captivity. This isn’t a political organization and they’re not interested in staging protests or engaging in combative debate on the Israel/Palestine conflict. From their website:
We encourage a couple of principles…:
- Don’t protest!
- Don’t disturb your neighbors. Do it quietly and don’t block roads. Be polite and peaceful.
- Focus on humanity. This is about innocent children, women, the elderly, and other civilians being held by terrorists—not about the war.
- We encourage carrying flags of all countries from which there are hostages.
In the unending news cycle covering the Israel-Gaza war, the Boulder attack may seem like old news. It’s been a month of weeks, a year of months and a decade of the two years since the Oct. 7 terror attack. Yet as the walkers in the Run For Their Lives organization continue their weekly marches, they haven’t gone unnoticed by the growing legions of Jew-haters looking to exact an ongoing toll on those who dare to plea for the return of the remaining hostages—which includes the bodies of two American citizens, believed killed by Hamas in captivity.
Though the walkers’ ranks have swelled to twice their size since Soliman’s fire-bombing attack in Boulder, so too have the ranks of those following them, hurling antisemitic epithets and doing everything they can to intimidate the walkers on their 1km route on Pearl Street. Much like the sudden explosion of anti-Israel and antisemitic activity that began as early as Oct. 8, 2023—nearly three weeks before Israel began any military response into Gaza—the fallout from this attack on peaceful non-combatant, ordinary citizens served simply to chum the waters for the anti-Israel camp. Where a normal, rational response to the horrific attack on Coloradans more than 6,800 miles from Gaza would normally be sympathy and emotional support, instead a cadre of soulless ghouls are bent on inflicting more pain and trauma. It’s gotten so bad that the organizers decided to stop publicly announcing their walking routes in order to protect the safety of those who participate.
Among the ranks of said ghouls: Boulder City Council candidate Aaron Stone, whose own admission reveals antisemitic depravity.
“Aaron Stone, who is also running for Boulder City Council, has been one of the more vocal counterprotesters,” reads a report by CBS published on Aug. 28. “Stone says he has some regrets about some of his words. ‘I do agree that my language has been strong in the past, and I do apologize for going that route.’ He called (Rachel) Amaru (founder of the Boulder chapter of Run For Their Lives), who is Jewish, a ‘Nazi’ during one of his public demonstrations. CBS Colorado asked Stone if he regretted calling Amaru a Nazi. ‘I agree it is a very strong word to use,’ said Stone, who claimed, ‘I’m not seeing a Jewish person. I’m seeing someone who is walking down the street talking about 20 hostages and ignoring the 2 million Palestinian hostages that are being kept in Gaza,’ said Stone.”
Reading between the lines in that unapologetic response, the dehumanization of Jews from his perspective is clear—so deeply entrenched in his psyche that he can rationalize showing up in person to scream at a group of people whose only transgressions include advocating for the release of brutalized hostages… and succumbing to a violent attack by a terrorist. Stone gleefully victimizes the victims. And none of what he’s engaging in will have any impact on his supposed hopes to “free Palestine.” It’s just another way to fly a Jew-hating flag.
Meanwhile, just a few miles east in Weld county—and on the flip side of the political spectrum—Commissioner Scott James appears to have no issues amplifying antisemitic tropes of his own. His latest shot at Gov. Jared Polis takes the form of an age-old, long line of “Jewish Puppet Master” canards, featuring this well-drawn, well-tread, and very tired dog whistle:
This is such a common trope that both sides of the aisle use it ubiquitously—the most common current uses are applied to George Soros on the Right and AIPAC on the Left. And despite its use for a century in popular culture, including by the Third Reich:
…It’s evident that James has no issues going back to that bottomless well and perpetuating this hate.
One thing remains certain. As I’ve said before, and I’ll say it again: The Horsehoe Theory is illustrated nowhere better than when it comes to antisemitism.
