DENVER — JEWISHcolorado is looking to raise $160,000 to help the victims injured in the attack on Boulder's Pearl Street Mall as well as the Jewish community as a whole.
On Sunday afternoon, the local group from the organization Run For Their Lives held its weekly walk to bring attention to the Israeli hostages held in Gaza. The Boulder group walks every Sunday and planned to do so at 1 p.m. at the corner of 8th and Pearl streets. Sunday was the start of the Jewish holiday Shavuot.
The suspect, Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, of Colorado Springs, is accused of throwing Molotov cocktails into the crowd of demonstrating people, injuring 12 of them, and yelling "Free Palestine," according to a federal arrest affidavit Denver7 obtained and Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty. A state arrest affidavit added that witnesses saw him using a commercial weed sprayer filled with a flammable substance as a makeshift blowtorch.
Nobody was killed in the incident, which the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has labeled a “targeted terror attack.”
"I want other communities to understand that the Jewish community is full of people, that what is happening at the center of these stories is impacting real people and real lives," said Brandon Rattiner, senior director of the Jewish Community Relations Council, which is a program under JEWISHcolorado. "Jews in America, Jews in Colorado, are being attacked for what is happening half a world away by a foreign government, and that just shows the deep, deep, durable link between the antisemitism that we're seeing and the actions that we're seeing, being taken against Jewish people."
On Monday, JEWISHcolorado announced the launch of an emergency fund to help those injured in Sunday's attack and the community as a whole. The group is looking to raise $160,000 and plans to use the funds for the following "essential areas:"
- Enhanced safety and security measures: Providing additional protection for Jewish institutions, events, and gathering places throughout Boulder County.
- Direct victim support: Offering immediate financial assistance to those directly impacted by the attacks to help with medical expenses, lost wages, transportation, and other urgent personal needs.
- Comprehensive trauma support: Offering professional counseling and healing resources to both direct victims of the attacks and community members experiencing fear, anxiety, and secondary trauma.
- Emerging community needs: Creating flexibility to address unforeseen challenges that may arise as our community navigates this difficult period.
"JEWISHcolorado is part of the federation system in North America to support communities we they are in need. We see a need right now, whether it's supporting the victims individually, helping the community, adding extra security, or even providing mental health and trauma relief," Rattiner said. "Folks are really hurting out there, and we want to do our part to help them heal."
Boulder
Fund set up to help those injured in attack on Boulder's Pearl Street Mall
According to Rattiner, security has been a topic of conversation for several years now. Jewish organizations have been forced to allocate funds to pay for safety and security enhancements. Temple Emmanuel Senior Rabbi Joseph Black echoed that sentiment on Monday.
“We had to increase the security around our building,” he said. “It's a new normal.”
“It's very frightening for members of the Jewish community, that in America — a land of opportunity, a land of freedom, a land where my mother fled Germany in 1938 to come here — is now a place where Jews are in danger and we need to have armed guards in our synagogues," Black continued.
- Below is a map of 2024 antisemitic incidents in Colorado. Locations are broken down by city — locations are not exact.
"It's a sad reality that budgets for Jewish organizations throughout the state have to constantly be edited to make sure that security is fully funded," Rattiner told Denver7 on Tuesday. "Those funds come out of programs like family programs, children programs, elderly programs, Jewish joy and spirituality."
JEWISHcolorado hopes to raise $160,000, with 100% of the donations going to the Boulder community. If you would like to donate to the emergency fund, you can do so through this link.
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