Boulder attack renews safety concerns for US Jewish communities

On Sunday, a group gathered in Boulder, Colorado, to raise awareness for hostages held in Gaza was attacked, leaving 12 people injured.

The suspect, Mohammed Sabry Soliman, accused of throwing incendiary devices at them, allegedly planned the attack for a year, and told police he wanted to “kill all Zionist people,” according to court documents.

It was the latest in a string of attacks against Jewish people and institutions, ratcheting up anxiety among those in North America’s Jewish community who see these incidents as signs of growing antisemitism in the US.

The Boulder attack occurred just weeks after a suspect shot and killed a couple outside the Capitol Jewish Museum in Washington, DC. They were later identified as employees of the Israeli embassy who had been attending an event at the museum. In April, the official residence of Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro was set on fire, just hours after the Jewish lawmaker celebrated the first night of Passover.

“Jews are feeling the impact and are more afraid than they were two weeks ago, or that fears that existed in some communities a few weeks ago are more heightened,” said Adina Vogel Ayalon of J Street, a pro-Israel advocacy group that’s critical of the war and has called for a ceasefire in Gaza.

“These types of hate crimes are not distinguishing between where you fall on the political spectrum about the war” between Israel and Hamas, Ms Ayalon said. “And that is something very unsettling.”

Israel has faced sustained international criticism over its military actions in Gaza, which it undertook after Hamas attacked the country on 7 October 2023, killing about 1,200 people – mostly civilians – and taking 251 hostages.

Over 50,000 people have been killed in Gaza since the start of the war, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry. The statistics do not distinguish between civilians and Hamas fighters, and the BBC and other international media organisations are blocked by Israel from entering Gaza to verify.

But a United Nations report that assessed Gazan deaths during a six-month period found nearly 70% of verified victims were women and children. Throughout the conflict, human rights experts have raised the alarm of widespread hunger, disease, and displacement within Gaza.

The war also has become a divisive political issue in the US. Pro-Palestinian protests across university campuses and in major cities have ignited greater debates over education and free speech. There are religious,…