J Street Horrified by Terror Attack in Colorado, Urges Swift Action

Washington, DC – Following the horrific terror attack on a peaceful hostage solidarity walk in Boulder, Colorado – during which eight people were injured by an assailant with incendiary devices shouting “End Zionists” – J Street Senior Vice President and Chief Policy Officer Ilan Goldenberg released the following statement:

“We are horrified and shaken by yet another brutal attack on our community here in the United States. That an incendiary weapon was unleashed on a peaceful gathering in solidarity with Israeli hostages is terrifying. Our hearts are with the victims of this sickening attack, some of whom have suffered severe and significant burns. Many members of the pro-Israel, pro-peace J Street community have participated in hostage walks and demonstrations in Boulder and beyond, and this attack hits painfully close to home. We deeply hope for the full and speedy recovery of those injured.

Right now, some of the worst fears of our community are being realized here on our shores. This is the second act of anti-Israel, antisemitic terror in the past two weeks. The entire American Jewish and Israeli community is now grappling with renewed and very real fears for our safety. This growing climate of violence, fear and intimidation cannot be allowed to escalate any further.

We urge all political leaders and pro-Palestinian groups across the country to condemn this attack without equivocation. We again urge all those in the pro-Palestine movement to honestly reckon with the danger posed by extreme rhetoric and its interpretation by unstable individuals.

Together, we must make clear that there is no space for such political violence in our country. We must make clear that in the United States, people from all backgrounds have the right to free assembly, free from fear – be they pro-Israel or pro-Palestinian, Muslim or Jewish.

Perpetrators of these acts of terror would have us believe in a zero-sum view of the conflict – that the best way to show support for the Palestinian cause is by attacking Jewish or pro-Israel Americans. In reality, proponents of terror are betraying the values they claim to fight for while severely damaging efforts to build broad-based support for Palestinian rights. The fact that the group targeted in this attack reportedly included Jewish hostage freedom advocates who were also strong supporters of Palestinian liberation underscores how wrong, dangerously misguided and self-defeating such a worldview is.

We again call on Congress and the Trump Administration to ensure the Nonprofit Security Grant Program is fully funded to ensure synagogues, Jewish schools and other places where Jews gather in the United States are properly protected. There is no justice to be found in terror, and no liberation in targeting the innocent.”