The morning after the man threw a Molotov cocktail into a crowd of Jewish Americans in Boulder, Colorado, Rabbi Noah Farkas celebrated Shavuot’s first day in the usual way.
But Farcus, president of the Jewish Federation in Greater Los Angeles, said what appears to be a holiday celebrating the establishment of law and order has been undermined by weekend violence.
“The community is horrifying,” Farcus said outside Temple Ramato Zion in Northridge.
“It’s amazing to me that people who want to attack us have come up with new and new ways to harm us and try to kill us.”
Twelve people, ages 52 to 88, were burned in the Colorado attack. The man identified by law enforcement as Mohamed Sabri Soliman, 45, an Egyptian citizen who has overstayed tourist visas, used a “make-up flamethrower” to attack protesters who march in peace at a weekly event in support of Israeli hostages in Gaza.
According to the FBI affidavit, the attacker cried out “Free Palestine!” – The same cry from the suspect in the May 21 incident saw two Israeli embassy aides shot and killed outside the Jewish Museum, Washington’s capital.
The successive attacks have made many Jewish Americans uneasy. Especially Josh Shapiro, a Jew, as the man came a month after setting fire to Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro’s residence. The suspect later said the fire was a response to Shapiro’s stance on Israeli war in Gaza.
“We are in a whole new era in the United States due to anti-Semitistic violence,” said Brian Levin, founder of the Center for Research on Hatred and Extremism and professor emeritus at San Bernardino at California State University. “We are currently at a point of extraordinary national security concerns regarding protecting the Jewish community around the United States and around the world.”
Levin said anti-Semitic hate crimes reached record levels nationwide in 2023 and 2024. In 2023, anti-Semitic hate crimes rose 63% to a record 1,832 outbreaks last year, when the FBI has available data. Last year, religious hate crimes rose significantly in major U.S. cities, anti-Muslim hate crimes rose 18%, and anti-Sembling crimes rose for the fourth consecutive year, rising 12% to new records.
“In the last decade, we’ve seen more and more massive casualty attacks. They’re becoming more frequent and more deadly,” Levin said. “In the past, unlike many other hate crimes, anti-Semitic hate crimes were much more connected to property damage and threats. Now we’re seeing a lot of high-intensity types of attacks.”
The US attack has warned that the situation in Gaza is becoming increasingly dire, and that Palestinians in Gaza are on the brink of hunger as Israel continues its 19 months of military attacks on Hamas militants.
Two weeks ago, Israel suspended the lockdown for nearly three months, agreeing to put “basic amounts” of food in Gaza to avoid the “starvation crisis” and prevent massive hunger.
On Sunday, Gaza health officials and witnesses said more than 30 people were reportedly killed and 170 injured as Palestinians flocked to aid distribution centres in southern Gaza. The situation was contested. Witnesses fired a crowd about 1,000 yards from the aid site run by the US Support Foundation, but Israeli forces denied the troops fired on civilians.
Levin believes the rise in US violence stems from many factors, including the Israel-Hamas War and the “increasingly unregulated, free online environment.” Levin said the horrifying images coming out of the Middle East were amplified on social media by people who held responsibility for Israel who had the right to exist, or who were Jewish or who wanted to release hostages.
“What happens is not only the rage and unstable people find homes for attacks, but also the polished amplification and direction refined by this conspiracy and this Sespool of anti-Semitism,” Levin said.
In the Pico Robertson area of Los Angeles, the mood calmed down on Monday as Orthodox families reached services to observe shavuot. Many kosher facilities were closed, and armed guards interjected the entrance into larger Jewish centres and temples.
On Pico Boulevard, a 25-year-old orthodox man carried a prayer shawl near his chest. He would wake up all night, read the Torah and sleep a few hours later.
Despite news of the attack in Colorado, the man who identified himself as a laser had a simple smile.
“It’s a fun holiday,” he said.
The Colorado attacks were horrifying, he said, but it wasn’t new and appealing compared to the Jewish community in Los Angeles and the feeling that has descended all over the world since October 7th.
“It’s never a good thing to see or read these kinds of things,” he said. “We pray for the ultimate redness, peace here, peace abroad, peace all over the world.”
At the Tiferret Teman Synagogue, a man standing at the door repeatedly apologized to the Times Reporter, saying he would not discuss the events that took place in Colorado.
“I’m not going to invite politics into the community,” he said. “God blesses you.”
Others observing the holidays have been refused to take photos, and many businesses have been shut down. As an orthodox member of the community, quiet buzzes have penetrated Pico Boulevard, many of them trying their best to avoid eye contact.
A Persian Jewish man from Iran said he was always hesitant about religious violence. The man refused to give him his name, and was heading for his service.
“You need to keep your eyes open at all times,” he said. “No matter where you are in the world.”
Noah Tissby, the Israeli-born author and former envoy for the fight against Israeli anti-Semitism and illegality, said he fears many Jews will gather.
“We feel that the Jewish community is under siege,” she said. “People are removing the Mezza… They remove the Jewish insignia from themselves, remove the Star of David, or hide it. They are afraid to go to Jewish events.”
Tishby said Colorado attackers appear to be motivated by anti-Semitism. The views and beliefs of the victims were not important.
“If the man tried to burn alive yesterday, if she dislikes Bibi, would it appease him?” Tishby asked, using the nickname of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “The answer is no. He doesn’t know what her political opinion is in America or Israel. She was Jewish so she burned her.”
Tishby argued that anti-Semitism is a conspiracy theory that transforms shapes that evolved into anti-Zionism.
“What happened was that the word Zionist is now a Jewish code name,” she said. “For decades, we have warned that anti-Zionism is a new face of anti-Semitism… They are taking all the hatred, everything that’s wrong in the world right now, and they’re pinning it to the Jewish state.”
LA Mayor Karen Bass on Sunday denounced the attack as “a brutal humiliation against the very thing in our society and the beliefs we have in Los Angeles.” In a statement, she called an emergency meeting at city hall and said she would address the safety and security of the city right after Shavuot.
“LAPD is conducting additional patrols at LA’s places of worship and community centre homes. Anti-Semitism is not tolerated in this city,” she said.
After speaking with Bass on Sunday, Farcus said he plans to meet with the mayor in person on Wednesday after Shabuotto’s holiday in order to have a “real candid conversation” about Atoy Semism.
“Our hearts are shattered, but we still have a cycle of having to endure,” Farcus said. “And that raises questions about our wider community and the government’s commitment to the safety of the Jewish community.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
