The group victimized in an anti-Semitic attack plans to return undaunted to the scene of the Boulder, Colorado, firebombing—and is emerging stronger worldwide, an organizer said.
“Leaders are going to go out this weekend and hold their regularly scheduled walk, maybe with more security,” Shira Weiss, global coordinator of the “Run for Their Lives” group, told The Epoch Times.
The group was formed shortly after the Hamas terrorist ambush of Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, launching the Israel-Hamas War. As the war persists, more than 50 people remain captive, Weiss said, and the apolitical, nonpartisan group has gathered weekly ever since.
“Unfortunately, this awful event and attack has actually strengthened the initiative ... and we’ve actually gotten a really big uptick in new people wanting to stand up new chapters,” Weiss said, noting the group includes more than 230 chapters worldwide.
The Boulder attack marked “the first-ever attack on any of our groups,” she said.
Initially, the group “paused all walks” while organizers evaluated safety considerations, Weiss said.
“Once we figured out that it was an isolated incident, we allowed the group leaders to resume their walks if they wanted to,” she said.
Run for Their Lives has received an outpouring of support, Weiss said, with many people urging the organization to continue its work. A Denver group has planned “to walk in solidarity” with the Boulder group on Sunday, she said.
Some news coverage of the group’s activities has been inaccurate, she said.
“I wouldn’t even call it a ‘march,’” she said. “It’s literally a walk of about 20 minutes,” sometimes sandwiched between a few short remarks. For example, participants “might read the names of the hostages,” or profile one of them and “tell the story of who they are and where they came from,” Weiss said.
The walk in Boulder on Sunday will be followed by the 30th annual Boulder Jewish Festival, according to an announcement from the Boulder Jewish Community Center.
The festival and the Run for Their Lives observance will be held at the city’s Pearl Street outdoor mall, where an Egyptian national was arrested for allegedly injuring more than a dozen people with explosives and a makeshift flamethrower. The defendant, Mohammed Sabry Soliman, 45, is accused of 118 offenses as well as a federal hate crime in connection with the attack; a judge ordered him to remain in the Boulder County Jail unless he posts $10 million bond.
Attendees can expect “a thoughtfully reimagined version” of the festival, with “enhanced security protocols,” the announcement said, adding, “these are precautionary measures and not based on any known threat.”
“Our program and planned experiences will bring us together as a community at a time when nothing could be more important,” festival organizers wrote.
“We recognize that each one of us holds a range of emotions—from fear to pride, from anger to the joy of being part of the Boulder Jewish community. With this festival, we hope to provide the space and opportunity for all to show up authentically.”
However, news of the planned Colorado gatherings comes as one of America’s largest Jewish gatherings canceled its conference because of escalating anti-Semitic threats in Texas.
On June 5, four days after the Boulder attack, organizers of The Israel Summit announced that its Dallas-area gathering “has become the latest casualty of growing hostility toward public support for Israel in the United States,” according to a news release that David Friedman, former U.S. ambassador to Israel, posted on social media.
Friedman said he had been scheduled to speak at the summit, and that more than 1,000 attendees were expected.
“Law enforcement was completely cooperative but the threats were of a nature that required cancellation,” Friedman wrote in his post. “When [President Donald Trump] says we need to take our country back, this is a good example of what he means!”
Friedman served as ambassador from 2017–2021, during Trump’s first presidency.
