The Genocide in Gaza is Being Fought on the Streets and in the City Hall of Boulder, Colorado

Taisha Adams – Boulder City Council member attacked as “anti-Semitic” for having intoduced a ceasefire resolution

The Genocide in Gaza is Being Fought on the Streets and in the City Hall of Boulder, Colorado

by Guy Benintendi 

In February, 2024, just four months into the genocide in Gaza, a courageous Boulder city council member, Taishya Adams, introduced a measure to consider a ceasefire resolution for Gaza. It failed, with only two council members voting to even consider it. Over 100 other US city councils have issued resolutions for a ceasefire in Gaza, yet Boulder which has had a long history of progressive politics, refused.

A year later, in February, 2025, council member Adams proposed a resolution to divest the city’s portfolio from companies supporting the genocide in Gaza. The council  decided not to even consider this possibility. This issue has divided the Boulder community and enraged those who believe the city council is on the wrong side of history.

This rage has played out every two weeks on the floor of city council chambers. Anti-genocide protesters have talked passionately during the public comment period, and they have interrupted council meetings for almost two years in vain attempts to get their voices heard. But, like university camp-ins that have been quashed by pressure from the federal government, Boulder city council protests have been suppressed by the introduction of new rules – suspending public comment, regulating the size of political signs, eliminating the video feed of the public, and the suspension citizen activists.

Anti-genocide protesters have talked passionately during the public comment period, and they have interrupted council meetings for almost two years in vain attempts to get their voices heard. But, like university camp-ins that have been quashed by pressure from the federal government, Boulder city council protests have been suppressed by the introduction of new rules – suspending public comment, regulating the size of political signs, eliminating the video feed of the public, and the suspension citizen activists

Anti-genocide protesters have talked passionately during the public comment period, and they have interrupted council meetings for almost two years in vain attempts to get their voices heard. But, like university camp-ins that have been quashed by pressure from the federal government, Boulder city council protests have been suppressed by the introduction of new rules – suspending public comment, regulating the size of political signs, eliminating the video feed of the public, and the suspension citizen activists

Then, on June 1, 2025, there was an attack on a group called Run for Their Lives. This is an international group with chapters around the world. They march on Sundays waving Israeli flags ostensibly supporting the release of the Israeli soldiers and civilians captured during the Palestinian resistance’s incursion into Israel on October 7, 2023. During its march on the Pearl Street Mall in Boulder twoMolotov cocktails were thrown at the group by a man shouting “Free Palestine”; one protester was killed and several were injured.

Within days, eight members of the Boulder City Council denounced this as an antisemitic attack. One council member, Taishya Adams, the only person of color on an otherwise lily-white council, refused to sign the resolution, saying that it was an anti-zionist attack, not an antisemitic one. Subsequently, Taishya posted on social media a post about the genocide of indigenous peoples on Turtle Island. In turn, she was vilified by other council members as an antisemite. Seven of the eight other members wrote letters denouncing her. I have lived in Boulder for thirty-three years and have never before seen a council member denounced publicly by a fellow council member, let alone by seven of them.

Then, in August 2025, council member Adams attempted once again to introduce a resolution for the council to divest from four companies facilitating the genocide in Gaza. Her resolution was not even considered based on a technicality: “Is there a material change in law or fact such that five council members would have reconsidered their prior decision?” In the six months since the previous vote, Israel had escalated its genocide in Gaza by cutting off nearly all food, medicine, and humanitarian assistance, launching relentless bombardments, expanding ground incursions, and displacing virtually the entire population.

All over the world, people are calling on leaders and politicians to do whatever it takes to put a stop to this holocaust before it goes any further. And after all this, all but one city council member indicated that they would not reconsider their earlier vote because there was not a material change in law or fact!

Just days ago, on September 4th, the Boulder Police Department conducted a search at the home of one of the citizens who had interrupted city council meetings repeatedly. After the search warrant was executed she was arrested on charges of misdemeanor harassment and felony retaliation against an elected official.

And then, to top off this litany of misconduct and repression, last night a small group of CU students, some of whom are members of the local Students for Justice in Palestine group, were threatened with disciplinary action if they screened the film, The Time That Remains, a sweet and quirky film by Palestinian director Ilia Suleiman about life under Israeli occupation. Two state police officers had the building locked in an attempt to keep movie goers out, and one cop explained to the students that they would be subject to sanctions if they screened the film. What next – book burning?

Boulder citizens have become deeply divided on the issue of supporting the Palestinians in Gaza. Many people want the city council to divest from genocide and others think local governments should attend to local matters only. Some even support the genocidal actions of the Israeli Occupation Forces!

I stand with those who believe that when a genocide is occurring right before our eyes that we should do everything we can to stop it. In my opinion, this is the moral issue of our time and we have an obligation to stand on the right side of history.

Why am I telling you all this? Because now we have two city council candidates, Aaron Stone and Rob Smoke, running on platforms centered on stopping the genocide. They believe that we must do whatever we can to stop the genocide that Israel is committing in Gaza with US financial, military, diplomatic, and media support.

Genocide is the crime of crimes – nothing matches it. The US’ explicit support and Boulder’s tacit support for genocide implicates all of us in a policy we do not approve. By facilitating Israel in violating every red line, every norm of international law, the US is making the world a more dangerous place. We believe that every city council around the world has a right and obligation to express its opposition to this.

WE NEED YOUR HELP! There are four seats being contested by eleven candidates including the four incumbents. We’ve got our work cut out for us. Six candidates have already reached their matching finds limit. We need to catch up if we want to win.

If you want Boulder to stand up for the rights of Palestinians DONATE TODAY – whatever you can. The max limit is $100 for each candidate, $200 total. If you can afford that, it would be great……………..and, even $5 helps. You do not have to live in Boulder to donate. Here is a link to our fundraising campaign: <https://www.gofundme.com/manage/divest-boulder-from-genocide>.

Thank you so much.

FREE PALESTINE!

Guy Benintendi

P.S. If you’d like to volunteer for the campaign please let me know. Most of the volunteer work will be done in Boulder, and some can be done anywhere.