‘It's painful' Greater Boston Jewish leaders react to Colorado attack

Boston Globe

2 days ago

In connection with Sunday's attack in Boulder, Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, faces hate crime charges in federal court and attempted murder and other charges in state court.
Soliman had 18 Molotov cocktails but threw just two during Sunday's attack in which he yelled 'Free Palestine,' police said.
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The two incendiary devices he did throw into the group of about 20 people were enough to injure more than half of them, and authorities said he expressed no regrets about the attack.
The attack happened at the beginning of the Jewish holiday of Shavuot and barely a week after a man who also yelled 'Free Palestine' was charged with fatally shooting two Israeli Embassy staffers outside a Jewish museum in Washington.
Rabbi Naomi Gurt Lind, of Temple Ahavat Achim in Gloucester, said the Colorado attacks 'reaffirms what we already know.'
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'We're living in very serious times,' she said. 'It's a very scary time for the Jewish community.'
But, she said,
'We're a resilient people. ...We hold onto one another in hope.'
Elsewhere in Gloucester, Eliran Boraks,
who was born in Israel and served in the military there, said the recent attacks were 'very troubling, but not surprising.'
'Since Oct. 8, the day after the Hamas attack, you had all these groups saying 'It's Israel's fault,' and this was even before Israel retaliated,' said Boraks.
He said, 'when you see people cheering against us, that shows where the wind is blowing.'
'It's creating this atmosphere where this kind of hatred of Jews is accepted, so it's not surprising when you have these people who live in an echo chamber online, who are a little coocoo, and they get to the point where they're using violence against any Jewish person.'
The atmosphere is such now that if Boraks wore a kippah in downtown Boston, 'I'd be looking behind me,' he said.
Rebecca Hornstein, executive director of the Workers Circle in Brookline, a community that embraces secular Judaism, called Sunday's deadly attack on a Jewish rally in Boulder 'horrific' and 'morally reprehensible.'
'Our hearts are with the Boulder Jewish community,' she said. 'We know this attack has caused a lot of fear in Jewish communities around the country, including ours.'
Hornstein also voiced concern that the Trump administration may use the attack as a pretext to crack down on civil liberties.
'We carry an extra fear of how some politicians might use this attack to target immigrants, movements for justice, and democracy itself,' she said.
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According to Hornstein, the Workers Circle, a social justice organization, has a diverse range of perspectives on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and has spent the past 19 months organizing both for the release of the hostages and a ceasefire to end what she described as the 'unspeakable destruction, violence, and hunger' in Gaza.
In the wake of Hamas's Oct. 7 attack on Israel and a subsequent rise in antisemitic incidents across the United States, many Jewish institutions have increased security, especially during holidays like last Sunday's Shavuot, when attacks are more likely, Hornstein said.
At the Workers Circle, the approach to security looks different. Rather than employing armed guards, the group relies on volunteer safety teams, including members from non-Jewish partner organizations, to monitor entrances during the Jewish High Holidays and other events.
Hornstein said the surge in antisemitic violence over the past two years has spread fear and uncertainty in her community. But the Workers Circle, she said, tries to balance protecting Jewish safety with avoiding what she called a 'fortress mindset,' which can allow antisemitism to isolate Jewish communities from broader society.
'We want to protect our communities and ensure they're safe,' Hornstein said. 'But we also want to stay open and welcoming, and keep building community with our neighbors.'
Jewish leaders are not alone in condemning the attack. Nichole Mossalam, former executive director for the Islamic Society of Boston Cambridge and a leader in local Muslim communities, said she found the Colorado attack disturbing.
'My answer as a human being is violence begets violence,' she said. 'It's a vicious cycle that we've locked ourselves to.'
In a statement, Boston-based Combined Jewish Philanthropies said, 'In what is becoming a terrifying pattern for American Jews, we are once again shocked, saddened, and outraged at a 'targeted terror attack' in Boulder, Colorado.'
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The group's statement added, 'Our hearts are with the Jewish community of Boulder, and we pray for the victims and their families.'
Material from The Associated Press was used in this report.
Danny McDonald can be reached at