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Just two weeks after the murderous attack on two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington, DC – and just hours before the start of the Jewish holiday of Shavuot on Sunday – an Egyptian national, in the US illegally, attacked a group of Jews at a pedestrian mall in Boulder, Colorado, with firebombs. Fifteen people were injured, some seriously.

The victims were participating in a quiet, public march to raise awareness of the hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza. The Boulder march is one of the "Run for Their Lives" demonstrations that started after October 7, 2023. Over 200 local groups around the US and around the world, large and small, hold these weekly events.

Fox News reports:

[The attacker] has been charged federally with a hate crime involving actual or perceived race, religion, or national origin.

Federal charging documents detail how [the attacker] shouted "Free Palestine" during the attack.

"He traveled to Boulder, Colorado, in his vehicle with the Molotov cocktails and threw two of the cocktails at individuals participating in a pro-Israel gathering," the complaint says. "He also stated that he picked up gas at a gas station on the way to Boulder. He stated that he wanted to kill all Zionist people and wished they were all dead."

He also allegedly stated "he would do It…again."

JNS reports on remarks by House Speaker Mike Johnson after the attack in Boulder:

The speaker linked the Boulder firebombing to the arson attack in April on the home of Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, and to the murder of two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington in May. All of the alleged attackers in those incidents claimed they were motivated by their support for "Palestine."

"There’s a theme here: Why would terrorists target a young innocent couple or peaceful protesters or the governor of an American state with no jurisdiction over a war that’s happening 5,000 miles away?" Johnson asked.

"It isn’t about Palestine, it isn’t about Gaza, it isn’t about any particular conflict," he said. "It’s because these people want a complete and total extermination of the Jewish people."

"There is a targeted left-wing antisemitic terror movement on the rise in America," Johnson added. "It is an evil that we are confronting, and we’ll continue to call it out."

Further reading
Geraghty: The Ideology and Violence of Hamas Take Root Here in America

Jonathan Tobin writes at JNS that the attack in Colorado, coming on the heels of the attack on the embassy employees in Washington, DC, and the firebombing of Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro's home on Passover, should force US Jews to reevaluate some of their views:

A sane response to an epidemic of anti-Jewish violence also means an honest re-evaluation of the assumptions about American life that no longer make sense. And that involves supporting rather than opposing Trump’s campaign against the left in higher education, as well as taking action against the threat that unfettered and illegal immigration is increasingly posing for Jews today.

In a culture in which partisan politics plays the role that religion used to play in most people’s lives, it is second nature for liberal Jews and Democrats to oppose anything Trump does.

Yet no matter what you think about Trump, his flawed character or his stands on other issues, the policies he has proposed to deal with antisemitism in America are essential for the defense of the values that made this country a safe haven for Jews.

Further reading: Jerusalem Post: Why this Holocaust survivors son thanks President Trump

Adam Kredo at the Washington Free Beacon reports:

Momentum has built for the US government to formally designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization in the weeks since President Donald Trump’s Middle East trip, lawmakers and other sources familiar with the effort tell the Washington Free Beacon.

While the parties involved iron out the final details, sources working on the effort said that lawmakers have multiple avenues to financially cripple the Muslim Brotherhood, a global Islamist organization that preaches terrorism against Israel, the United States, and Western governments.

…The Muslim Brotherhood is already designated as a terror outfit in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Syria, and Bahrain. But the United States has failed to follow suit, even though Congress attempted multiple times in the past. During Trump’s first term in office, officials in both the White House and Congress began laying the groundwork to sanction the Muslim Brotherhood’s global affiliates, but a formal designation never materialized.

With Trump back in office and the GOP holding slim majorities in Congress, insiders say a fresh push to designate the Muslim Brotherhood would likely draw broad Republican support. It also has the important backing of key Arab allies that already identify the Brotherhood as a purveyor of violent extremism and discussed the issue during Trump's visit to the Gulf states.

NY Times: Trump Talks a Lot About Antisemitism, With a Notable Caveat

"American Jews can rest assured that they have the most pro-American, pro-Israel and pro-Jewish president in the history of this great nation," Harrison Fields, a White House spokesman, said in a statement. "President [Donald] Trump and his administration have made it their mission to eradicate antisemitism and hold those who espouse or enable it accountable."

And Sam Markstein, a spokesman for the Republican Jewish Coalition, said, "the Jewish community is thankful and grateful that we have such a strong defender in the White House."

NY Times: Denouncing Antisemitism, Trump Also Fans Its Flames

"[Donald] Trump, based on some of the people he has met with, is an imperfect carrier of an antisemitic message," said Ari Fleischer, a former White House press secretary for President George W. Bush who sits on the board of the Republican Jewish Coalition. "But the actions he has taken and the language he has used to protect the Jewish community are second to none. He is a fierce and strong voice on the side of America’s Jewish citizenry."

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Conservative groups denounce antisemitism ahead of Georgia GOP convention

Two of Georgia’s most influential conservative groups united this week to reaffirm that "antisemitism has no place in the Georgia GOP."

But the Georgia Faith and Freedom Coalition and the Republican Jewish Coalition-Atlanta didn’t release the statement just because of the recent violence targeting Jewish Americans. It was also partly a response to activists, including David Cross, who is challenging Georgia GOP chair Josh McKoon at this weekend’s state party convention in Dalton. Cross recently amplified a conspiracy theory critical of Israel that referred to a "cabal" leading the Jewish nation.

The statement from the two groups noted "a number of questionable statements have been made as we head into the GOP Convention."

"Whether by innuendo or suggestion, antisemitic comments about Jewish individuals and/or Israel are beneath the dignity of our movement," wrote Mack Parnell, executive director of the Georgia Faith & Freedom Coalition, and Chuck Berk, co-chair of the Republican Jewish Coalition-Atlanta.

Cross... [is] not likely to get much traction during this weekend’s convention. McKoon is in a strong position to earn a second term as state party chair, especially after all nine of Georgia’s Republican members of Congress endorsed him on Tuesday... They add to his growing list of supporters, which includes the biggest fish in the GOP world: President Donald Trump.

Jewish Insider: IDF recovers bodies of two Israeli-American hostages held in Gaza

The IDF found and returned the bodies of US-Israeli citizens Judith Weinstein-Haggai and Gad Haggai, who were killed in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks, the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office announced on Thursday.

The Haggais were murdered in Kibbutz Nir Oz during Hamas’ onslaught targeting Gaza border communities. Their bodies were held by Hamas, the PMO said.

…Gad was 72 and Judith, a New York native who also held Canadian citizenship, was 70; they are survived by four children and seven grandchildren.

…The bodies of two American hostages, Itay Chen and Omer Neutra, remain in Gaza, out of a total of 56 hostages, 20 of whom are thought to be alive.

NY Post: The US-Israel Gaza aid plan is working — which is why Hamas is spreading lies about it

In an article at the New York Post, John Spencer and Arsen Ostrovsky write about the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a US-Israeli initiative designed to get aid directly to civilians was created to bypass Hamas entirely and cutting it out of the aid supply chain it has long exploited as a tool of war. And the GHF is succeeding. In its first full week of operation, the GHF distributed nearly 7 million meals, on average a million a day. Tens of thousands of Gazans received food safely and without incident — no Hamas middlemen, no inflated black market and no political strings. The GHF is now working to open more distribution sites to reach even more Gazans in need.

Hamas has responded to this threat to its power by sending armed terrorists to provoke chaos at the distribution sites and by flooding social media and mainstream media with false stories painting Israel as the aggressor.

Spencer and Ostrovsky insist: "Humanitarian aid must never be a bargaining chip for terrorists."

Further reading: Lake: Who Profits from Gaza’s Desperation?

JNS: US vetoes UNSC resolution, ‘unacceptable’ for what it says, doesn’t say, manner advanced

The US mission to the United Nations vetoed a UN Security Council resolution, which the body’s 10 non-permanent members introduced and which calls for a ceasefire in Gaza.

"US opposition to this resolution should come as no surprise," Dorothy Shea, the acting US envoy, told the council on Wednesday. "It is unacceptable for what it does say. It is unacceptable for what it does not say, and it is unacceptable for the manner in which it has been advanced."

"The United States has been clear," she added. "We would not support any measure that fails to condemn Hamas and does not call for Hamas to disarm and leave Gaza."

…"It is inexplicable that many members of this council still refuse to acknowledge that Hamas could end this conflict tomorrow by surrendering and laying down its arms," she said. "It is unconscionable that the United Nations still has not labeled and sanctioned Hamas as a terrorist organization.

"In addition to refusing, once again, to condemn Hamas for the cowardly and evil acts that set this brutal conflict into motion, this resolution contains other serious defects," she added.

Congratulations: Stu Sandler

Congratulations to RJC leader and former staff member Stu Sandler, who has been named chief of staff to Senator Rick Scott (R-FL). Stu has worked with Senator Scott in political capacities and previously served as executive director of the Michigan Republican Party and as deputy director of the Republican Jewish Coalition. We wish him all the best in his new role.