If someone tells you “Globalize the intifada,” believe them.
If someone tells you, “From the river to the sea” believe them.
If someone tells you “End Zionists,” believe them.
When did we stop acknowledging the evidence before our own eyes?
Many in the Jewish community knew exactly where this was headed. Calling for violent attacks on random Jewish targets (which is what an Intifada is) will result in chaos and death. But those concerns were often dismissed or ignored. Even worse, sometimes — usually by those chanting the hateful lines — Jews were accused of playing the victim.
On Sunday, Boulder’s District Attorney Michael Dougherty said in a press conference that his office intended to hold Soliman accountable to the full extent of the law. Dougherty promised that justice will be served.
If Dougherty’s word is not fulfilled, it will be a further nail in the coffin of democracy.
Democracy and freedom only work if we have rule of law. From the defund the police movement to the last year-and-a-half of largely unaddressed chaos and law-breaking on campuses and across the country (remember the groups holding up California freeways for hours on end?) the rule of law has severely eroded.
When Gov. Polis and the Colorado legislature chose to keep the State Capitol in its vandalized state post-George Floyd, it signalled their disregard for the rule of law.
Without the rule of law, anarchy or autocracy — or both, as we are currently living through — fill the vacuum.
Democracy is a social contract. It only works when all parties to the contract agree to it.
Citizens must abide by the law — and when they do not, government must prosecute them.
We swap elements of freedom for security. That’s the deal.
Put another way: If citizens no longer feel safe excercising their right to freedom of speech, it ceases to have meaning. If a Jew (or Christian, or Muslim, or Sikh) fears outwardly demonstrating their faith by wearing a kippah (or cross, or scarf, or turban), their First Amendmant right to freedom of religion and expression ceases to exist.
On June 1, Mohamed Soliman attacked not only those gathered at the Run For Their Lives walk. He attacked the Constitution. If he is not held fully accountable, our democracy will be at stake.
Shana Goldberg may be reached at shana@ijn.com.
© IJN 2025
