Data shows antisemitic incidents reach record highs nationally and in Colorado
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - If you feel like you've been seeing more attacks targeting the Jewish community recently – you're not wrong.
New data from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) shows antisemitic incidents have reached an all-time high, both across the country and here in Colorado.
The ADL is reporting a record 9,354 antisemitic incidents in 2023, the highest number since the organization began tracking in 1979.
It represents an 893% increase over the last decade, with more than half of last year’s incidents occurring after the Hamas terror attacks in Israel on Oct. 7.
That national trend is reflected here in Colorado, where incidents rose 42% in 2023, jumping to 279 in total. That puts Colorado ninth in the country for antisemitic activity.
The release of the ADL report came over a month before a violent attack on a pro-Israel demonstration on Boulder's Pearl Street on June 1.
Cell phone video captured 45-year-old Mohammed Soliman throwing Molotov cocktails at demonstrators gathered on Pearl Street, reportedly yelling “Free Palestine." The attack left a dozen people hospitalized.
Investigators say he had planned the attack for a year, carried 16 homemade firebombs in his backpack, and attempted to use a modified weed sprayer as a flamethrower.
Rabbi Jay Sherwood of Temple Shalom in Colorado Springs said the attack represents something much bigger than just one act of violence.
"This was an attack on not just a few Jews in Boulder, but on the entire Jewish community of Colorado and, frankly, on the entire Jewish people," Sherwood told KRDO13.
Sherwood says there are many reasons antisemitism is on the rise, but one of the major drivers is the ongoing war in Gaza.
“We know the rise in anti-Semitism is happening for a variety of reasons, but a major player is October 7th,” he said. “What’s going on in Gaza is a very, very difficult thing. And it’s not something we can solve with slogans. And it’s certainly not something we can solve by people building up the idea that it’s okay to attack Jews anywhere on the planet because you disagree with policies of a government that’s another country outside the United States.”
Sherwood also emphasized that attacking Jews in the U.S. in the name of Palestinian liberation does nothing to support Palestinians.
"Throwing Molotov cocktails at Jews who are saying hostages should be freed - this does nothing for Palestinians," Sherwood said.
In Colorado Springs, data from the FBI also shows hate crimes rose 31% in 2022, with religiously motivated attacks making up a significant portion of that increase.
Soliman has been charged with attempted murder and a federal hate crime, with authorities saying the attack was both politically and religiously motivated. He appeared in Boulder County court on Monday and is scheduled to return Thursday.
Federal officials confirmed Soliman’s work visa had expired earlier this year. There is still no word on the immigration status of his wife and five children, who lived with him in Cimarron Hills.
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