Unknown (4:31)

To 88 years old regardless of anybody's views on global politics or the Israeli Palestinian conflict, that this kind of act of terrorism, act of violence is completely, completely unacceptable, we condemn it. I know that the suspect has been arrested. I hope he's prosecuted the full extent of the law. This is a hateful act and there's no place for this. And I think there's, you know, the only other appropriate thing to say is obviously we hope that those who were attacked recover. And I know that some are some are facing difficult situations with their burns.

John Law (5:05)

In Boulder, Colorado, on Sunday, a man attacked members of a Jewish community group advocating for the release of hostages in Gaza. The suspect, identified as Mohammed Sabri Suleiman, reportedly used a makeshift flamethrower and threw incendiary devices into the crowd, injuring 12 people. Witnesses reported that the suspect shouted Free Palestine during the attack, and police found over a dozen unlit Molotov cocktails in Soliman's vicinity after his arrest. Soliman is now in custody, facing hate crime, murder and assault charges, among others. And Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Kash Patel said the incident is being investigated as a targeted terror attack Run for their lives, whose members were targeted in the attack organizes weekly walks in communities across the world to raise awareness for hostages taken by hamas during the October 7, 2023 attacks in Israel. A spokesperson for the organization said the local chapter had gathered in Boulder every week since the fall of 2023 those injured in Sunday's attack were between the ages of 52 and 88 and included an elderly Holocaust survivor. Soliman, the suspected attacker, is an Egyptian national who was in the United States illegally. He arrived in the US in 2022 on a non immigrant visa that permitted him to stay in the country through February 2, 2023, but he did not leave when his visa expired. He was granted a work authorization in March 2023, which ran through March 2025, which but again remained in the country, law enforcement officials said. He had no previous significant contact with the police. According to an FBI affidavit. Soliman confessed to the attack after he was taken into custody and told police he would do it again, expressing a desire to kill all Zionist people. Soliman also said he deliberately targeted Run for Their Lives, which he described as a Zionist group and planned the attack for over a year. A witness reported that the suspect withdrew from the scene after the initial attack, then re emerged and threw a Molotov cocktail toward the crowd, appearing to catch himself on fire in the process. Law enforcement said they found papers with the words Israel, Palestine and US Aid written on them inside his car. But the FBI has not found evidence that Soliman was linked to a terrorist group or network. President Donald Trump linked former President Joe Biden's immigration policies to the attack, writing on Truth Social, the suspect came in through Biden's ridiculous open border policy, which has hurt our country so badly. This is yet another example of why we must keep our borders secure and deport illegal anti American radicals from our homeland. White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller also questioned why Suleiman had been granted a work permit to remain in the country after overstaying his visa. The attack follows two other high profile, violent incidents targeting Jewish and pro Israel Americans in recent months. In April, a man set Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro's residence on fire while the governor and his family were sleeping inside. The suspect told law enforcement that he targeted Shapiro because of his stance on Palestine. Separately, on May 21, a man shot and killed two Israeli embassy staffers outside an event at the Capitol Jewish museum in Washington, D.C. after which he shouted Free. Free Palestine while being taken into custody. Today we'll break down what we know about the attack in Boulder with views from the right and the left, and then Isaac's tape.

Isaac Saul (8:44)

We'll be right back after this quick break.

Unknown (8:51)

This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever think about switching insurance companies to see if you could save some cash? Progressive makes it easy to see if you could save when you bundle your home and auto policies. Try it@progressive.com Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. Potential savings will vary. Not available in all states.

Unknown (9:10)

Imagine a toilet so striking it inspired a couture dress. That's right, kohlersvale Smart Toilet in Honed Black actually inspired fashion designer Laura Kim to create a stunning black chiffon dress that debuted on the Runway at New York Fashion Week. The Vail Smart Toilet, with its curved design, deep rich textural color, touchscreen controls and customizable cleansing features, can transform your routine into something extraordinary. That's the power of design. Design changes everything. Vail Smart Toilet in Honed Black only from Kohler Discover the Vail Smart Toilet and go behind the scenes of Kohler's partnership with creative director Laura Kim@kohler.com.

John Law (10:00)

Alright, first up, let's start with some agreement. Both sides condemn the attack. Writers on the right and left also link recent attacks on Jewish Americans to rising antisemitism worldwide. And now let's move on to what the right is saying. The right views the attack as a natural consequence of the antisemitism imbued in the anti Israel movement. Some say the attack also highlights the failures of Biden's immigration policies. Others worry that more incidents like this are still to come. In City Journal, Charles Fane Lehman wrote, this is what an intifada looks like. Soliman's assault is the third high profile anti Israel and anti Semitic terror attack in the US in recent months. It follows the double murder outside of the Washington, D.C. jewish Museum less than 10 days ago and the attempted firebombing of Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro's home in April. The increasing tempo of violence makes the pattern hard to ignore. The American anti Israel movement has radicalized, Lehman said. It is also hard not to draw a connection between the rhetoric used by radical protesters over the past two years and the recent wave of violence. There is only one solution. Students and marchers have chanted in Intifada revolution. This lighting humans on fire to advance your political goals is what an intifada looks like. The issue isn't just calls for intifada claims that Israel is committing genocide, demands for a Palestine from the river to the sea and the routine vilification of Zionists, a label invariably applied to Jews, all function to legitimize terrorism. This is not to suggest that protesters speech should be silenced, no matter how offensive. Nor does it mean that anyone who criticizes Israel's conduct in Gaza is tacitly condoning terror, lehman wrote. The point rather is that the American radical anti Israel movement has built the intellectual scaffolding for and in many cases all but invited the violence now playing out in places like Boulder. In the New York Post, Andrew Arthur argued Colorado attack shows why ICE Can't Just Focus on criminals Mohamed Sabri Soliman, an Egyptian national admitted under the Biden administration who overstayed a tourist visa, was named as a suspect in a heinous anti Semitic attack in Boulder, Colorado. His arrest shows why border czar Tom Holman can't just focus on criminal illegal aliens, arthur said. According to the Migration Policy Institute, there were 132.4 million admissions of foreign nationals as nonimmigrants in fiscal year 2023. Most, but not all, went back home as they were supposed to. A U.S. customs and Border Protection report estimates that among the nonimmigrants who came through airports and seaports and who were expected to depart in fiscal year 2023, 1.45%, or 565,155 in total didn't go home like they should have. President Donald Trump has tasked Hohman with overseeing a mass deportation program to to drive down the illegal population in the United States. Thus far, the plan has largely focused on aliens with criminal arrests or convictions. But immigration laws require the removal of all aliens here illegally, not just the least sympathetic, arthur wrote. Soliman is presumed innocent until proven guilty, but if he's responsible for this attack, his actions harken back to another Egyptian overstay, Hisham hadeit, who murdered two and wounded three others during a July 4, 2002 attack at the El Al counter at Los Angeles International Airport. In the Free Press, Jeffrey Herf explored Free Palestine terrorism. This incident, which the FBI has called a targeted terror attack, comes less than two weeks after the assassination of Yaron Leshinsky and Sarah Milgram outside the Capitol Jewish Museum. Their alleged killer, Elias Rodriguez, yelled exactly what the perpetrator embolder yelled Free Palestine, the slogan that echoed on campuses and in the streets, especially since the hamas attack of October 7, 2023, Herv said. They are terrorist attacks carried out against Jews in America in the name of liberation thousands of miles away. They are carried out by people who feel so emboldened by the global ideological assault on Israel and its supporters that they are willing to make the leap from hatred to violence. And if history is a guide, they will not be the last to do so. In the United States, only a small minority of activists are likely to take that last step from ideology to political murder. Only a small number, one hopes, will believe that violence against Jews and Israel's supporters is necessary and desirable in order to free Palestine, herf wrote. But today those who are prone to make that leap will gain momentum from an ideological climate that is even more conducive to terrorism. It is the denunciation of Israel, not the denunciation of terrorism, which finds the most and the loudest expression in the universities and in other environments dominated by the pedigreed and the prestigious alright, that is it for what the right is saying. Which brings us to what the left is saying. The left is disturbed by the attack, but many push back on attempts to link the incident to immigration issues. Some argue that both sides bear responsibility for rising antisemitism in the U.S. others say the attacks in Boulder and D.C. highlight the ongoing threats to Jews. The Washington Post editorial board wrote, Anti Semitism does not respect national borders it's true that Suleiman should not have been in the United States. The Department of Homeland Security said on Monday that he is in the country illegally. The board said crimes committed by those in the country illegally should not have happened. Even advocates of high levels of immigration must admit that the United States should know who is entering the United States, along with any threats they pose. Yet most immigrants come to this country for refuge and work. Those who commit crimes discredit the vast majority, legal or not. More to the point, somehow stopping all illegal immigration would not end antisemitism in America. Virulent and violent antisemitism transcends national borders the cold blooded murders of two Israeli embassy staffers outside the Capitol Jewish Museum last month underscored the homegrown element of the threat, the board wrote. All American Jews are victims of such anti Semitic terrorism, which aims to paralyze the Diaspora with fear. There is no easy solution. Mines can take decades to change. Politicians who encourage and exploit divisions over the Israeli Palestinian conflict do not help. In Forward magazine, Emily Tamkin shared the two things I fear most after the horrifying attack on Jews in Boulder. The first, that the people injured, including one Holocaust survivor, would not survive this, that their lives would end in this unbearable violence, being burned alive while rallying for the release of the people being kept in captivity. And the second, that this latest instance of extreme violence against Jews will bring us deeper into a new cycle in which concerns of antisemitism are are alternately dismissed and exploited, tamkin said. The cycle works like some act of antisemitism or violence against Jews is carried out. Some parties then use it as a pretense, perhaps out of genuine fear or perhaps to peruse cynical pre existing policy goals to justify their own preferred policy positions on the right. They seek a crackdown on free speech, free assembly, criticism of Israel, immigrants or universities. This crackdown, far from inspiring people to take antisemitism more seriously, further degrades the meaning of the word, conflating antisemitism with criticism of Israel. And in turn, some on the left then greet violent attacks on Jews in the United States by saying that they're a comeuppance for Israel's war in Gaza, Tamkin wrote. The risk of copycat attacks, further acts of violence inspired by those that have already taken place, feels alarmingly high. In the Atlantic, Julia Kahm said sheer hate was behind the recent attacks on Jewish Americans. The anti Semitic motivation of these attacks is clear. Such homicidal hate crimes have no justification. Indeed, their collateral damage is to destroy the space for any reasonable debate about how Israel has conducted its war in Gaza. The two attacks are linked not only by their motivation but by their horrific performative intimacy, Cain wrote. Terrorism typically wields the threat of random violence, the notion that any innocent might be caught in its vortex of cruelty. These attacks are different because they were directed very specifically at people the attacker took to be Jewish. Their intimacy was precisely intended to inflict horror on a particular community and imply that no Jew could be innocent. Pervasive antisemitism is what enables attackers to believe that they are striking back at Israel by trying to kill any Jew anywhere. This hateful mindset assigns responsibility for specific Israeli policies to Jewish people all over the world. Jews thus stand condemned purely for being Jewish. Came said the Colorado victims were meeting in support of hostages taken by Hamas. The D.C. victims were working to advance their embassy's diplomatic mission. Both sets of people belong to the best traditions of dialogue and peaceful advocacy, the absolute opposite of of irrational hate. All right, let's head over to Isaac for his take.

Isaac Saul (19:43)

Alright, that is it for the left and the right are saying. Which brings us to my take. So in my Friday piece about my struggles with Zionism, I dedicated a whole section to saying that my unease with the label didn't mean I was joining the other team. That is, I wasn't pronouncing myself as anti Zionist or anti Israel or going to stand shoulder to shoulder with activists on the quote unquote other side. I wrote this for a few reasons. One Loud sectors of that side in the United States casually justify violence against Jews and Zionists on a regular basis. Two, I don't believe that many anti Zionists genuinely engage with the issues in Palestinian or Gazan society that need to be addressed for peace to prevail. And three over and over again I've found many pro Palestinians assume the worst of pro Israelis rather than engaging with the strong arguments that exist for the cause. I was reflecting on this section after two Israeli embassy workers were assassinated by an anti Zionist in Washington D.C. as I watched a stream of activists not just downplay the killings but celebrate them. Then the news out of Boulder, Colorado broke a man screaming Free Palestine and fuck the Zionists had used a makeshift flamethrower to light a bunch of elderly Jews on 5 who were peacefully protesting for the release of the remaining hostages in Gaza. Well, that's kind of how the news broke. Some outlets like NBC did a good job obscuring this reality with headlines like quote, Multiple Gaza Hostage awareness marchers injured an attack in Boulder. Personally, my headline to capture the reality of the situation would have been Man Screaming Free Palestine Lights Members of Jewish Community Group on fire with Flamethrower. These incidents are starting to become a pattern. In a matter of weeks, an anti Zionist committed arson at the Jewish Pennsylvania Governor's mansion, an anti Zionist killed two Jewish Israeli embassy workers and an anti Zionist lit a group of Jewish people on fire who were peacefully protesting for the release of hostages. To be clear, these are just the most violent headline grabbing and high profile incidents. They say nothing of the day to day interactions Jews and Israelis are reporting here in the us One might imagine how the corporate press would cover these incidents if the pattern were right wing extremists committing acts of violence against some kind of liberal coded special interest group. When I and other Jews were expressing concern about chance to globalize the Intifada, this is what we are talking about. This is the nightmare realized and the response has been more than disheartening. After the killing of the Israeli Embassy workers, Jake Sherman, a prominent reporter at Punchbowl News who very rarely expresses any personal opinions publicly, publicly tweeted about how scary being an American Jew is right now, with synagogues armed and fortified, kids going to schools layered with security and campuses in cities rife with anti Semitism. He retweeted that post again after the Boulder news broke. Here's a sample of some of the top replies to his tweet. Quote, because the most important thing during a historically sadistic genocide of mostly children is the feelings of the people supporting it. End quote. Or this one. Now just use a little bit of imagination to think of what scary must be like for Palestinians. Wait, you don't need to imagine because the genocide bombing of a hospital, schools, et cetera. And atrocities are livestreamed to our devices every day. Jake, these weren't American Jews, another person said. They were staff members for the Israeli Embassy, a country currently committing a genocide. It's blowback from the Israeli occupation and genocide. Jake. You slaughter people indiscriminately and you'll have to protect yourself from their anger. This isn't ideological, it's just material analysis. And this one Free Palestine ended all ends. It's that simple. I also posted something on X about how frightening this acceleration in violence here in the US was, and the first response I saw came in was this. It's almost like it's related to the increased barbarism by Israel on the people of Gaza. To be clear, these are not cherry picked responses. They are the top comments and they're representative of the whole. Suffice it to say I find the implication that attacking Jews or Israelis in the US is an appropriate response to barbarism by the Israeli government to be completely and utterly deranged. To state the obvious, you can empathize with what it's like to be a Jew in America right now, while also empathizing with what it's like to be a Palestinian in Gaza right now. Without comparing or equating their plights, I would never categorize my suffering or fear as akin to anything any Gazan is experiencing in a war zone. But I also understand how humans work. If a person is stuck in a traffic jam that causes them to miss a job interview, I'm not going to criticize that person for being upset at their inconvenience instead of dismayed for the people who were in the accident that caused the traffic. The plights aren't even comparable, but people respond to experiences they feel personally from the other direction. Zionists or pro Israel readers have told me that my writing is partially responsible for this violence, that criticizing Israel's actions or categorizing them as an ethnic cleansing or genocide authorizes and makes me responsible for violence against Jews. It was a very disappointing reaction to Friday's piece, but sadly one that I expected. I suppose the implication here is that earnestly trying to describe the abhorrent actions of a government permits others to respond violently to those actions. Ironically, this argument accepts the same fallacy from the other side that justifies violence against Jews by citing Israel's actions in Gaza. It's an entirely circular blame game that centralizes the observers as main characters and completely takes agency away from bad actors truly actually doing the thing. So to be clear. My responsibility is to report things that are true or to share my opinions honestly and fairly. How people choose to react to that is not my responsibility. For instance, a false claim circulated in mainstream news outlets yesterday about Israeli forces committing a massacre near an aid distribution site in southern Gaza. The claim was investigated and debunked, but it already spread like wildfire before the truth came out. If we had inaccurately reported such a story, that's something to hold me to account for. But the actions of others in response to my writing, most of whom have probably never seen my writing? I don't think so. Just as American Jews aren't responsible for atrocities committed by the Israeli military, I'm not responsible for anti Zionist activists committing violence against American Jews. Obviously, I can see that these things are related. I know that extreme rhetoric from the pro Palestine side is going to incite violence in the United States. That's exactly why I expressed concern about college campus protesters calling to globalize the intifada, a word that is not associated with peaceful demonstrations. I also know that Israel's actions in Gaza put more Jews in danger globally. I've written repeatedly about how Israel's response to October 7th has made both Israelis and Jews all over the world less safe, which is borne out by incidents like this accelerating in frequency. But understanding how these things are related is not the same as accepting these actions as justifiable. I don't blame heated rhetoric for the actions of a deranged man with a flamethrower. I blame the man with the flamethrower. I don't blame the Israeli government for the murder of two Israeli embassy workers. I blame the murderer. It's one thing to insist on turning the temperature down for the cause of mitigating the tension and violence, but it's another thing to blame people for things they are not responsible responsible for. And not for nothing. But if you want to understand why so many Jews believe so deeply in the project of Israel, look around. This is it Literally. One Israeli writer whom I have a great deal of respect for privately wrote to me about my piece on Friday and said something that struck a chord. There have always been anti Zionist Jews, he said. They are the safe Jews. Indeed, anti Zionism is a good signal of the safety and goodness of a particular moment in history for the Jews, while Zionism is a product of the repeated collapse of that safety and morality. In other words, one positively assured way to produce more Zionism, more necessity for Israel, and more belief in the cause is to make a place like the United States less safe. For Jews. This truly dark twist of irony seems to be something these pro Palestine radicals don't understand. From the college campuses to the violent actors, much the way every bomb Israel drops in Gaza will create new anti Israel radicals hell bent on destroying Israel for the rest of their lives. Every anti Israel march in the US that bleeds into antisemitism, or every random attack on a Jew or every act of vandalism of a synagogue that will create a new Zionist or radicalize an existing one toward accepting more extreme Israeli actions to ensure a Jewish homeland. Truly grasping this reality is scary. Watching the ways the worst actions of these groups feed and motivate each other, seeing their relationship worsen in real time as it has in fits and spurts throughout history, and knowing how hard it is to stop cycle, it's all terrifying. But we are there and I don't know where we will go next. I believe Israel is committed to a path of ethnically cleansing the Gaza Strip. The anti Israel activists are committed to making Israel and its supporters and any tangentially related Jew pay the price. And the more those Jews, Israelis or Zionists feel threatened, the more those Jews, Israelis and Zionists are going to believe in the necessity of a Jewish state. And around we go. We'll be right back after this quick break.

Unknown (29:22)

This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever think about switching insurance companies to see if you could save some cash? Progressive makes it easy to see if you could save when you bundle your home and auto policies. Try it@progressive.com Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. Potential savings will vary. Not available in all states.

Isaac Saul (29:42)

Hi, Brooke Devart here, host of Naked Beauty. Every week I talk to my audience about beauty and self care. I'm someone who spends a lot of time in the bathroom. It is truly my sanctuary. So investing in a smart toilet from Kohler has been life changing. The Kohler Vail Smart Toilet has a heated seat, hands free, opening of the lid and customizable bidet functionality. It is incredible. But beyond the technology, the design is just stunning. The veil's curved silhouette in honed black actually inspired creative director and fashion designer Laura Kim to create a stunning black chiffon dress that debuted on the Runway at New York Fashion Week. The creative partnership between Kohler and Laura Kim is changing how we think about everyday objects like a toilet. Transform your routine into something extraordinary with the Kohler the Vail Smart Toilet.

Isaac Saul (30:41)

All right, that is it for my take today. We are skipping your questions answered because my take got a bit lengthy. So I'm going to send it back to John for the rest of the podcast and I will see you guys tomorrow. Have a good one. Peace.

John Law (30:59)

Thanks, Isaac. Here's your under the radar story for today, folks. The Justice Department is reportedly investigating the pardons issued by former President Joe Biden during the final days of his term, according to an internal email reviewed by Reuters. Ed Martin, the Justice Department's pardon attorney, is assessing whether Biden was competent and whether others were taking advantage of him through the use of auto pen or other means. The investigation will focus on preemptive pardons for members of Biden's family and clemency for 37 death row prisoners issued shortly before President Trump's inauguration. President Trump and his supporters have claimed that Biden did not authorize the pardons, which the former president's aides denied. Reuters has this story and there's a link in today's episode Description all right, next up is our numbers section. The age range of victims in the Boulder attack on June 1 was 52 to 88. The number of terrorist plots or attacks targeting Jews, Zionists or Jewish institutions in the United States since January 2020 is 16, according to the Anti Defamation League center on Extremism. The number of those incidents that occurred between July 2024 and June 2025 is 9. The number of nonimmigrant admissions allowing foreign nationals into the United States for nonimmigration purposes in fiscal year 2022, the year suspected attacker Mohammed Suleiman entered the country, was 96.8 million, according to the Migration Policy Institute. The estimated number of overstay events when a nonimmigrant lawfully admitted to the United States remains in the country beyond their authorized period of admission in fiscal year 2022 was 853,955, according to a U.S. customs and Border Protection report. The estimated overstay rate for nonimmigrant visitors who did not depart the United States on time and in accordance with the terms of their admission in fiscal year 2022 was 3.67%, and the estimated overstay rate for nonimmigrants from Egypt Soliman's country of origin admitted to the United States for business or pleasure in fiscal year 2022 was 7.94%. And last but not least, our have a nice day story. A 322 pound loggerhead turtle named Lenny was found struggling to swim after being attacked by a shark. An underwater photographer spotted the injured turtle, brought him to the surface and boated him to shore, where Lenny took a turtle ambulance to a non profit Turtle hospital in Marathon, Florida. Loggerhead turtles are an endangered species with only 1 in 1000 hatchlings reaching adulthood, meaning Lenny's survival is crucial for his species. And survive he did. On March 25, Lenny was released, healed and healthy, back to the reef where he had been found. NBC News has this story and there's a link in today's episode description alright everybody, that is it for today's episode. As always, if you'd like to support our work, Please go to readtangle.com where you can sign up for a newsletter membership, podcast membership or a bundled membership that gets you a discount on both. We'll be right back here tomorrow. For Isaac and the rest of the crew, this is John Law signing off. Have a great day. Peace.

Isaac Saul (34:16)

Our Executive Editor and founder is me, Isaac Saul and our Executive Producer is John Lowell. Today's episode was edited and engineered by Dewey Thomas. Our editorial staff is led by Managing Editor Ari Weitzman with Senior Editor Will Kaback and Associate Editors Hunter, Dirk Casperson, Audrey Moorhead, Bailey Saul, Lindsay Knuth and Kendall White. Music for the podcast was produced by Diet75. To learn more about Tangle and to sign up for a membership, please visit our website@readtangle.com.

Unknown (34:55)

This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever think about switching insurance companies to see if you could save some cash? Progressive makes it easy to see if you could save when you bundle your home and auto policies. Try it@progressive.com Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. Potential savings will vary. Not available in all states.

Unknown (35:14)

Ever wonder what your lashes are destined for? The cards have spoken. Maybelline New York Mascara does it all. Whether you crave fully Fan lashes with Lash Sensational big bold volume from the Colossal a dramatic lift with falsies Lash lift or natural looking volume from Great Lash. Your perfect Lash future awaits. Manifest your best mascara today. Shop Maybelline New York and discover your Lash destiny. Shop now at Walmart.

Isaac Saul (35:39)

Hi Brooke Devart here, host of Naked Beauty. Every week I talk to my audience about beauty and self care. I'm someone who spends a lot of time in the bathroom. It is truly my sanctuary. So investing in a smart toilet from Kohler has been life changing. The Kohler Vail smart toilet has a heated seat, hands free, opening of the lid and customizable bidet functionality. It is incredible. But beyond the technology, the design is just stunning. The veil's curved silhouette in honed black actually inspired Creative director and fashion designer Laura Kim to create a stunning black chiffon dress that debuted on the Runway at New York Fashion Week. The creative partnership between Kohler and Laura Kim is changing how we think about everyday objects. Like a toilet. Transform your routine into something extraordinary with the Kohler Vail Smart Toilet.