The Boulder chapter of Run for Their Lives, the group that was targeted in the June 1 firebombing attack on the Pearl Street Mall, will no longer publicly advertise its weekly marches due to safety concerns.
“This is not about Israel or Gaza or the Middle East. This is about the safety of Jews and Zionists here in Colorado,” Brandon Rattiner, senior director of the Jewish Community Relations Council, told the Daily Camera. “And you would think that the murder of someone at this same event would be a call to lower the temperature and kind of useless inflammatory rhetoric. But, as we see, there is just a segment of the population that is comfortable harassing and intimidating this community for what they care about.”
The announcement came in a Wednesday news release from Rattiner that cited “weeks of escalating harassment and threats.” Boulder Run for Their Lives is not a JCRC member organization, but the JCRC advocates for all Jewish people in Colorado, Rattiner said.
Future Run for Their Lives walks will take place “under heavy security at undisclosed locations,” the news release said.
In the past, Boulder Run for Their Lives has walked along the Pearl Street Mall on Sundays to raise awareness of the roughly 50 living or dead hostages taken in attacks led by the militant group Hamas. The June 1 attack injured numerous people and burned 82-year-old Karen Diamond, who later died.
Boulder Run for Their Lives came to the decision about no longer publicizing its walks after months of tensions at Boulder City Council meetings between community members who support Israel and community members who are pro-Palestinian amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
Hostages were captured during Hamas’ attack on Israelis on Oct. 7, 2023, that killed about 1,200 people and drew widespread condemnation. Israel’s subsequent military offensive has left more than 60,000 people dead, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry according to news outlet Reuters, and has led to human rights organization Amnesty International concluding Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.
That overseas conflict has heightened tensions in the U.S., including locally. In Boulder, Councilmember Taishya Adams has repeatedly called for the city to divest in companies linked to Israel’s actions but has drawn little support from her fellow council members. The topic has also long dominated the City Council’s open comments portion of meetings, leading to repeated unruliness, meeting recesses and an overhaul of the open comments format.
This is a developing story and may be updated.