The Intifada in America Moves West

National Review Online

Tuesday, June 03, 2025

 

Less than two weeks ago, we wrote about how the intifada had come to the nation’s capital when a young couple, an Israeli and American who worked for the Israeli embassy, was shot and killed by a left-wing radical after leaving an event at the Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C. In short order, the intifada has now moved west.

 

On Sunday, a man shouting “Free Palestine” and ranting about Zionist killers used what officials described as a “makeshift flamethrower” and Molotov cocktails to light a crowd of people in Boulder, Colo., on fire. Those targeted were gathering as part of a weekly “Run for Their Lives” event calling for the return of the remaining 58 hostages in Hamas captivity (including the bodies of four Americans who were killed). Authorities initially reported eight victims in Boulder, ranging in age from 52 to 88, but later added an additional four, making it twelve injuries. One of the victims was a Holocaust survivor, according to a senior Department of Justice official. What makes this attack especially maddening is that the suspect should not have been in the country in the first place.

 

The suspect has been identified as Mohamed Sabry Soliman, an Egyptian national who first entered the United States on a tourist visa in August 2022. But when he overstayed that visa, instead of kicking him out of the country, the Biden administration granted him work authorization in March 2023 for two years. Since that two-year period ended this past March and was not renewed, Soliman is currently in the country illegally.

 

According to a criminal complaint, Soliman had for more than a year been planning to attack a “Zionist” target and waited until his daughter graduated from school to launch the attack. He told law enforcement that “he wanted to kill all Zionist people and wished they were all dead.” He targeted the hostage-awareness event after he learned about it online and researched how to make Molotov cocktails on YouTube. Near where Soliman was arrested, law enforcement found a black plastic container with “at least” 14 additional Molotov cocktails.

 

The Boulder terrorist incident, along with the murders in D.C. and the April arson attack on Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro’s official residence, are part of a troubling trend of radicals taking up the Palestinian cause and carrying out violence against Jews or Jewish institutions within the United States.

 

It should be no surprise that people who glorify the actions of Hamas would seek to emulate its tactics, but that is all the more reason to be alarmed about the prospect of more to come.