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No Antisemitism Here: How the Media Distorted the Boulder, Colorado Attack
A Boulder police officer patrols with a bomb smelling dog beside a makeshift memorial outside the Boulder Courthouse, days after an attack that injured multiple people in Boulder, Colorado, US, June 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mark Makela
It was a tragically straightforward story: Eight people were injured on Sunday, June 1, when a man yelled “Free Palestine” and threw fire bombs into a crowd of Jews in Boulder, Colorado, where they called for the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza.
Media headlines, however, did not mention Jews, nor the antisemitic slogan. They did not even call it an act of terrorism, although this is how the FBI labeled it.
For many media outlets, Jews being set on fire was merely an attack like any other. And this is precisely the narrative that enables the very antisemitism they failed to report on.
Jews were firebombed in Boulder because they dared to rally for Israeli hostages.
But here’s how the media covered it.pic.twitter.com/XA2Vzm9za9
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) June 3, 2025
The BBC‘s headline, for example, is about “the attack in Colorado” — too vague to know who attacked whom and why:
The AP’s headline took an extra step, acknowledging the existence of “suspect” and “victims” — as in any attack — but failing to identify them:
The headlines from NPR and Newsweek were equally bad, saying that random “people” were burned with no mention of their identity or the perpetrator’s antisemitic motive:
And an editor at CBS News thought it was more important to mention the full name of the Boulder Pearl Street Mall in the headline, rather than the identity of the victims:
Some of the worst headlines came from ABC News and ABC Australia, which questioned the entire event by using scare quotes around words like “terror” and “flamethrower”:
The AP went further, actively shilling for the attacker, Mohammed Soliman, who “appeared to have second thoughts” and threw only two out of 18 Molotov Cocktails:
“Mohamed Sabry Soliman had 18 Molotov cocktails but threw just two,” reports @AP.
That’s what AP believes is having “second thoughts.”
Please forgive the Jewish community if it doesn’t feel grateful or sympathetic towards the perpetrator like AP seems to. pic.twitter.com/f07zvOpSm7
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) June 3, 2025
There is no excuse for such bad journalism. This isn’t Gaza, where Hamas controls the narrative. And the perpetrator himself declared he wanted to “end Zionists!”
The appropriate headline should have been simple: “Pro-Palestinian attacks Jews supporting Israeli hostages in Boulder, Colorado,” or “Eight Jews burned after pro-Palestinian attacker targets solidarity march with Israeli hostages in Boulder, Colorado.”
So why were media outlets unable to accurately report it?
The only answer, other than incompetence, is complicity: Hiding the fact that Jews were deliberately set on fire legitimizes their targeting.
Because it’s antisemitic to cover for antisemites.
The author is a contributor to HonestReporting, a Jerusalem-based media watchdog with a focus on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias — where a version of this article first appeared.
The post No Antisemitism Here: How the Media Distorted the Boulder, Colorado Attack first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Putin Speaks to Trump, Condemns Israel’s Strikes on Iran, Kremlin Says
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian meet in Moscow, Russia, Jan. 17, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina
Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke to US President Donald Trump for 50 minutes on Saturday, condemning the Israeli military operation against Iran and expressing concern about the risks of escalation, the Kremlin said.
“Vladimir Putin condemned Israel’s military operation against Iran and expressed serious concern about a possible escalation of the conflict, which would have unpredictable consequences for the entire situation in the Middle East,” Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters.
Trump, for his part, described events in the Middle East as “very alarming,” according to Ushakov. But the two leaders said they do not rule out a return to the negotiating track on Iran’s nuclear program, Ushakov said.
On Ukraine, Putin told the US leader that Russia was ready to continue negotiations with the Ukrainians after June 22, according to state news agency RIA.
Trump reiterated his interest in a speedy resolution to the conflict, the Kremlin aide said.
Putin also congratulated Trump on his 79th birthday.
The post Putin Speaks to Trump, Condemns Israel’s Strikes on Iran, Kremlin Says first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Sunday’s US-Iran Nuclear Talks Cancelled, Oman Says
FILE PHOTO: Oman’s Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr bin Hamad bin Hamood Albusaidi attends a meeting with Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow, Russia July 11, 2023. Photo: Natalia Kolesnikova/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
The latest round of US-Iran nuclear talks scheduled for Sunday in Muscat will not take place, Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi said on X on Saturday. Oman has been mediating the talks.
Albusaidi’s statement came a day after Israel launched a sweeping air offensive against Iran, killing commanders and scientists and bombing nuclear sites in a stated bid to stop it building an atomic weapon.
A senior official of US President Donald Trump’s administration, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed Sunday’s talks had been cancelled.
Washington, however, remained committed to the negotiations and hoped “the Iranians will come to the table soon,” the official said.
The post Sunday’s US-Iran Nuclear Talks Cancelled, Oman Says first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Iran Says Talks with US ‘Meaningless’ After Israel Attack, But Yet to Decide on Attending
USA and Iranian flags are seen in this illustration taken, Sept. 8, 2022. Photo: REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
Iran said the dialogue with the US over Tehran’s nuclear program is “meaningless” after Israel’s biggest-ever military strike against its longstanding enemy, but said it is yet to decide on whether to attend planned talks on Sunday.
“The other side (the US) acted in a way that makes dialogue meaningless. You cannot claim to negotiate and at the same time divide work by allowing the Zionist regime (Israel) to target Iran’s territory,” state media on Saturday quoted foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei as saying.
“It is still unclear what decision we will make on Sunday in this regard,” Baghaei was quoted as saying.
He said Israel “succeeded in influencing” the diplomatic process and the Israeli attack would not have happened without Washington’s permission, accusing Washington of supporting the attack.
Iran earlier accused the US of being complicit in Israel’s attacks, but Washington denied the allegation and told Tehran at the United Nations Security Council that it would be “wise” to negotiate over its nuclear program.
The sixth round of US-Iran nuclear talks was set to be held on Sunday in Muscat, but it was unclear whether it would go ahead after the Israeli strikes.
Iran denies that its uranium enrichment program is for anything other than civilian purposes, rejecting Israeli allegations that it is secretly developing nuclear weapons.
US President Donald Trump told Reuters that he and his team had known the Israeli attacks were coming but they still saw room for an accord.
The post Iran Says Talks with US ‘Meaningless’ After Israel Attack, But Yet to Decide on Attending first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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