On Monday’s broadcast of CNN’s “Laura Coates Live,” Colorado Democratic U.S. House candidate Melat Kiros responded to a question on why she didn’t call the firebombing in Boulder antisemitism by saying that we’re talking about “attacks that are taking place on the Jewish community as a result of the actions that are taking place in Palestine, the genocide that is taking place in Palestine, actively making Jewish people less safe in our city and across our country. And our commitment has to be to combating that hate, combating the conflation between the actions of this state and the Jewish people and standing against this antisemitism.”
Host Laura Coates asked, “Last year, there was a deadly firebombing attack in Boulder, targeting a demonstration for Israeli hostages. When you were asked about the attack last week, you declined to call it antisemitism, saying that you, quote, ‘don’t know what was in the heart of the perpetrator’. There was more context to your statement, I’m assuming. But the police say the attacker yelled, ‘Free Palestine’ as he threw Molotov cocktails at his victims and that he was driven by a desire to, quote, ‘kill all Zionist people’. Do you stand by your comments, and how do you respond to criticism for not having called it antisemitism?”
Kiros responded, “What happened in Boulder was a horrific attack on a group of Jewish people that were engaging in peaceful protests, it was an attack that has made many Jewish people in our city and our state and across this country feel incredibly unsafe. And the fact of the matter is is that this conflation between the actions of the state of Israel and Judaism and the Jewish people is making Jewish people less safe. It is leading to a rise in antisemitism that’s taking place all across our country. My commitment is to protecting the sanctity and dignity of life for everyone. That means standing strong, side-by-side to our Jewish brothers and sisters and neighbors to make sure that they are protected against this rising hate and this rising antisemitism.”
Coates followed up, “Well, just from your description of what took place there, it would meet that criteria of antisemitism. Is there a reason you didn’t just say that it was?”
Kiros answered, “I believe what we’re talking about here is the attacks that are taking place on the Jewish community as a result of the actions that are taking place in Palestine, the genocide that is taking place in Palestine, actively making Jewish people less safe in our city and across our country. And our commitment has to be to combating that hate, combating the conflation between the actions of this state and the Jewish people and standing against this antisemitism.”
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