BOULDER, Colorado: For the 611 days since Omri Miran was taken hostage by Hamas, his family has lived in fear, his brother-in-law told those gathered at the Boulder Jewish Festival on Sunday, one week after a man firebombed a group calling for the release of Israeli hostages at the mall where Moshe Lavi now spoke.
“We received only partial, limited and at times horrifying proof of life,” Lavi said to a hushed crowd. “We don’t know how much he’s suffering, deprived of food, water, sunlight, tortured, abused, as I speak to you now.”
For its 30th year, the Jewish cultural festival centered on the stories of Israeli hostages after authorities said man who yelled “Free Palestine” threw Molotov cocktails at Boulder demonstrators calling for their release. Festival organizers said they reimagined it to focus on healing and center the group’s cause — raising awareness of the 55 people believed to still be in captivity in Gaza.
Authorities said 15 people and a dog were victims of the attack at the Pearl Street pedestrian mall. They include eight women and seven men, ranging in age from 25 to 88. One is a Holocaust survivor.
Not all were physically injured, and some are considered victims for the legal case because they were present and could potentially have been hurt.
Run for Their Lives, the group targeted in the attack, started in October 2023 after Hamas militants from the Gaza Strip stormed into Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 250 others hostage. The Boulder chapter, one of 230 worldwide, walks at the mall every weekend for 18 minutes, the numerical value of the Hebrew word “chai,” which means “life.”
Several hundred people joined the Sunday walk that typically draws only a couple dozen. Colorado Sen. John Hickenlooper was among the participants. Demonstrators handed out stickers stamped with “611,” representing the 611 days since the first Israeli hostages were taken by Hamas militants.
On a stage near the site of the attack, hundreds gathered to listen to speakers and songs. Vendors sold traditional Jewish and Israeli cuisine. In tents marked “Hostage Square,” rows of chairs sat empty save for photos of the hostages and the exhortation “Bring them home now!”
Lavi thanked local demonstrators for their bravery in advocating for his family. He described Miran as a gentle and loving gardener, husband and father to two young children.
Merav Tsubely, an Israeli-American who came to the festival from a city north of Boulder, watched as hostages’ families thanked those gathered in recorded video messages. One of Miran’s children appeared on screen and said in Hebrew, “When daddy comes back from Gaza, he’ll take me to kindergarten.”
“Just seeing them speaking to us, here, with all they’re going through, their supporting us is kind of mind blowing,” Tsubely said, her eyes welling. “It just reminds us how connected we all are.”
Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, was charged for the attack Thursday in Colorado state court with 118 counts, including attempted murder, assault, illegal use of explosives and animal cruelty. He was also charged with a hate crime in federal court.
Soliman, an Egyptian national who federal authorities say was living in the US illegally, told police he was driven by a desire “to kill all Zionist people,” a reference to the movement to establish and sustain a Jewish state in Israel.
The violence in downtown Boulder unfolded against the backdrop of the Israel-Hamas war, which continues to inflame global tensions and has contributed to a spike in antisemitism in the US It also came at the start of the holiday of Shavuot, which commemorates God giving the Torah to the Jewish people at Mount Sinai in Egypt.
US immigration officials took Soliman’s wife and five children, who also are Egyptian, into custody Tuesday. They have not been charged in the attack. A federal judge on Wednesday granted a request to block their deportation.
The Boulder Police Department and the FBI coordinated to provide increased security at the festival as well as local synagogues and the Boulder Jewish Community Center. Officers guarded the event’s entrances, and police Chief Stephen Redfearn said some plainclothes officers would be present in the crowd. On a rooftop near the stage, three held rifles and used binoculars to monitor the crowd as drones buzzed overhead.
Matan Gold-Edelstein’s father was present last weekend and helped douse the fire that burned an older woman. Gold-Edelstein, a 19-year-old college student, said the well-attended festival was a great show of humanity, regardless of religion or politics.
“We’re not here to be in support of a war,” he said. “We’re here in support of our religion, in support of our people and in support of the innocent people who are still being held hostage.”
Israeli hostages highlighted at Boulder Jewish Festival after attack on group urging their release
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Israeli hostages highlighted at Boulder Jewish Festival after attack on group urging their release
- Demonstrators handed out stickers stamped with “611,” representing the 611 days since the first Israeli hostages were taken by Hamas militants
Delivery drivers dodge debris to keep Gulf fed under Iranian attacks
- Thousands of couriers on motorcycles have been working full throttle to ensure food, home supplies and whatever else a customer might need is available
- UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan walked with his massive entourage through Dubai Mall pausing for an occasional selfie
DUBAI: As air raid sirens wail and explosions echo off glass skyscrapers, Gulf delivery drivers have emerged as unlikely heroes, providing a lifeline to frightened residents sheltering from Iranian attacks.
Airports, embassies, residential areas and military installations across the region have come under fire from daily salvos of Iranian missiles and drones since the war between the Islamic republic, Israel and the US broke out on Saturday.
While weaving through Gulf metropolizes’ traffic was never entirely safe, delivery drivers now face danger from the skies with the risk of falling debris from drones and interceptors.
Nonetheless, thousands of couriers on motorcycles have been working full throttle to ensure food, home supplies and whatever else a customer might need is available with the tap of an app.
During the war’s first hours, Agyemang Ata was in a mall in Dubai, waiting for an order when the first explosions rang out, but the 27-year-old has no plans to leave.
“My mom, sister and family have been calling me but I told them I am OK, they don’t need to worry about me,” Ata told AFP.
“I will stay here and work. Dubai is a safe place for me.”
To most residents, drivers like Ata were just an anonymous army keeping the hassles of daily life at bay — and to some, another traffic hazard on already busy streets.
Now, however, people are heralding their vital role, with many on social media describing them as “heroes” risking their lives to keep the Gulf running.
Further north in Kuwait, driver Walid Rabie said the fear was constant.
“We carry our lives along with the orders,” he told AFP
At least seven civilians have been killed in the Gulf since Iran began its attacks — many of them foreign laborers, who make up a large part of the region’s workforce.
Washington said six US service members have also been killed, four of them in Kuwait.
‘I have struggled’
The UAE has seen a disproportionate number of attacks, with the Ministry of Defense saying authorities have worked to intercept more than 900 drones and about 200 missiles fired at their territory.
“I’m afraid, I won’t lie,” said Franklin, a delivery driver in Dubai.
The need to earn a living outweighs other anxieties over the war, but maintaining his regular pace has been difficult under the new circumstances, and the number of orders has dropped.
“Before, I used to complete between 10 and 15 orders a day,” he explained. “But since this started, I have struggled to get even eight.”
The life of the drivers cuts a stark contrast to the region’s numerous influencers on social media, who have continued to party during the war, or to the city’s well-heeled expats, some of whom have dropped six figures on chartered flights out of neighboring countries to escape.
In Bahrain, where the sounds of explosions have continued for a sixth day, a foreign worker at a food delivery company said the situation was worrying at first but he has begun to get used to it — especially since he needs the job.
“I go out to work almost every day. I follow the news and hope the crisis will end,” said Ajit Arun, 32.
“We take precautions while driving, especially when the sirens sound.”
Across the Gulf, governments have implored their citizens and residents to avoid posting misinformation about the war and rely on official channels for news.
Others have sought to present an image of normality.
UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan walked with his massive entourage through Dubai Mall pausing for an occasional selfie.
But on the city’s streets, the reality of war weighed heavily, casting questions for some over future plans to stay in the Gulf.
“If things continue like this, I cannot risk my life,” said Franklin. “It would be better for me to return to my country.”
