A few days ago, the Boulder community experienced an act of horror that will take a long time to heal from. Mohamed Sabry Soliman threw a makeshift Molotov cocktail, setting people on fire, as bystanders watched in shock and disbelief. I was stunned when I first heard what had happened. While many in the city are grieving and searching for answers, others are responding in a more cynical manner. As national attention converges on Boulder County, some are wasting no time in using it to their advantage.
I’m not here to make sweeping claims about what should happen next, or how this could have been predicted or prevented. I’m not here to make assumptions about the suspect, his motives, or the victims. But I will say this: we must not let this tragedy, or the opportunists exploiting it, drag us away from our values and into hatred.
Firstly, Yellow Scene Magazine has been consistently clear in our stance: we condemn the genocide in Gaza. Our criticism of Israel does not make it difficult for us also to condemn lighting people on fire or to recognize this for what it is: a tragedy. Many victims remain hospitalized, some may not survive, and many more are traumatized and forever affected. The grief people are feeling is legitimate. What isn’t legitimate is the attempt to paint this act of violence as representative of broader political movements or ideologies…