The writer is an attorney and the father of Alisa Flatow, who was murdered in an Iranian-sponsored Palestinian terrorist attack in 1995. He is author of A Father’s Story: My Fight for Justice Against Iranian Terror and is the president of the Religious Zionists of America-Mizrachi. An oleh chadash, he divides his time between Jerusalem and New Jersey.
I thought I had heard it all when it comes to terrorism. For instance, I thought I heard it all when Thomas Friedman, the New York Times Pulitzer Prize winning columnist, wrote an April 2012 opinion piece, that rock throwing was up there along with boycotts, sit-ins and hunger strikes as examples of “nonviolent resistance” to be used against Israelis in Judea and Samaria.
The “nonviolent resistance” consisted of murdering a 21-year-old woman, Esther Ohana, who was in a car on the way to deliver invitations to her wedding when she was struck in the head by a rock and died. Or how about 11-year-old Chava Wechsberg, when the car she was riding in was attacked and caused to crash killing Chana. Or Yehuda Haim Shoham, just five months old, hit by a rock to the head while he was strapped into his car seat on June 5, 2021. And those are just a few examples.
Along comes Juliette Kayyem, a former Obama administration official and CNN’s national security, intelligence and terrorism analyst who criticized the FBI for labeling the June 1, 2025, firebomb attack in Boulder, Colorado, as an act of terrorism. She described the FBI's response as "juvenile" and suggested that the agency acted prematurely by not letting Boulder police investigate the incident.
Let’s look at the attack for a minute. It took place during a regularly held peaceful rally organized by the group "Run for Their Lives," which advocates for the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas. The assailant, identified as Mohamed Sabry Soliman, is a 45-year-old Egyptian national residing illegally in the U.S., used Molotov cocktails and a makeshift flamethrower to target the demonstrators, injuring 12 individuals aged between 52 and 88. Among the victims was an 88-year-old Holocaust survivor.
Hmmm, Israel, hostages, Gaza, Hamas, a prescription for trouble in the mind of any Jew-hating, antisemitic, anti-Israel, anti-Zionist, walking freely in the streets of America and around the world.
Let’s see what key facts Kayyem overlooked about the attack, the attacker and his victims.
First, it was a premeditated attack. According to the Associated Press, Soliman had planned the attack for more than a year. He has expressed no remorse and stated he would do it again.
Second, Soliman attacked a peaceful demonstration advocating for the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza.
Third, Soliman shouted "Free Palestine" during the assault, indicating a political motive.
These elements align with the FBI's definition of domestic terrorism, which includes acts dangerous to human life intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population or influence government policy through intimidation or coercion.
Maybe we shouldn’t be too harsh on Kayyem’s analysis. After all, as a former member of the Obama administration, she saw at first hand its attempt to whitewash Palestinian Arab rioters who used firebombs against civilians in Judea and Samaria by turning them into protesters, not terrorists. The goal she shares with Thomas Friedman and Barack Obama was the same: redefine terror attacks against Jews or their supporters in order to divert the world’s attention away the inherent acts of Jew-hatred they really are.
Labeling the Boulder attack as terrorism is consistent with both U.S. definitions and international precedents. Criticizing the FBI for this designation, overlooks the clear ideological motivations and the targeted nature of the attack. Recognizing such acts as terrorism is crucial for accurately addressing and preventing future incidents motivated by hate of all kinds and political extremism.
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