ByTAMAR STERNTHAL

JULY 7, 2026 15:37

State Sen. Julie Gonzales, a progressive Democrat, shared with The Colorado Sun that a person is dead, families are shattered, and a community is devastated after responding to aspiring Colorado House representative Melat Kiros refusal to label the June 27, 2025, deadly firebomb attack on the Boulder Jewish community as antisemitic.

Gonzales noted that responding by saying one does not know what was in the perpetrators heart missed a key moment to discuss healing amid exceptional pain and violence, referring to the widely criticized comment by the Democratic candidate that downplayed the anti-Jewish hate crime in which 82-year-old Boulder resident Karen Diamond was fatally wounded.

Kiros was not alone in missing the moment. Perpetrator Mohamed Soliman, who reportedly shouted Free Palestine during the attack, was not very mysterious about his intentions and openly stated that he wished to target a Zionist group.

The Associated Press presents itself as the definitive source for independent journalism from every corner of the globe. Yet APs July 1 coverage of Kiros victory in the state primaries represents another case where the news agency acted as the definitive sanitizer of global antisemitism.

Jessie Bedayns AP story, Democratic socialist Melat Kiros defeats longtime US incumbent in Colorado, made no mention of Kiros refusal to label the deadly attack as antisemitic, even though several of the candidates own progressive peers in Colorado had condemned her remarks.

State Rep. Yara Zoakaie, who endorsed Kiros, told The Sun that she was very disappointed in her answer to that question, adding that the answer is obvious that the attack on Jewish people in Boulder was an antisemitic attack and a horrific act of violence that all leaders should condemn.

David Seligman, a progressive candidate for attorney general, concurred that it was wrong of her.

Since Kiros primary win, Colorado governor nominee Phil Weiser, also a Democrat, likewise criticized Kiros refusal to condemn the attack as antisemitic. Black Lives Matter, period, Weiser told The Hill. Jewish lives matter. You do not put a comma, an and, or a but. Period. That is the message.

Indeed, the House overwhelmingly passed a bipartisan resolution condemning the attack as antisemitic, with only virulently anti-Israel lawmakers Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) and Thomas Massie voting present. Thus, Kiros position on the deadly attack in her home state makes her an outlier even in her own party.

But that is not the only troubling message about the candidate that the news service concealed.

Antisemitism in Public View

A July 2 Denver Post editorial, which included the baseless genocide libel against Israel, nevertheless directly stated that Kiros has made ending Israel a cornerstone of her campaign. It claimed that Kiros anti-Israel stance will take center stage.

The Denverites she represents deserve to know that, while in Congress, that is the position Kiros will be advocating for an end to the state of Israel, the Denver paper maintained.

Between now and the November election, Kiros has the opportunity to deepen and broaden her support in Denver by addressing the concern that she will use her vote in Congress to deny military aid to Israel without a plan for what happens when that country can no longer defend itself from people who are definitely antisemitic, it continued.

As Jewish Insider reported, Kiros lost her job at the law firm Sidley Austin in 2023 for publishing a column denouncing hundreds of top law firms that called on law schools to do more to address antisemitism on their campuses. The column argued that calling for the elimination of Israel is not antisemitic and defended Hamas and those who have expressed support for it.

AP papered over her inglorious departure from law, casting her as a comeback kid success: Kiros, a 29-year-old lawyer turned doctoral student, is the latest candidate to rise from the partys Left flank and boot establishment-backed candidates.

The closest that APs Bedayn got to reporting on the cornerstone of Kiros campaign, that is, the aspiration to dismantle the Jewish state, was a few words about her victory speech remarks on ending the genocide in Palestine.

The AP, which promises independent journalism, certainly does not probe the implications of Kiros platform to end all aid to Israel, much less even mention that position.

Nor has AP noted that among Kiros backers, an array of extremist anti-Israeli entities, including Jewish Voices for Peace and the Council on American-Islamic Relations, includes none other than pro-terror social media personality Hasan Piker.

As CAMERA UKs Adam Levick has documented, Piker said America deserved Sept. 11, praised the Houthis, and celebrated the brave mujahideen for wounding US Congressman Dan Crenshaw, who, during his third deployment in Afghanistan, lost an eye in an IED blast.

A day after the Oct. 7 atrocities, Piker said, Do you think that this happened out of nowhere? Do you think this happened out of thin air? Are you f***ing stupid? Do you think the Israeli state was just, like, peacefully coexisting, and then these guys came in with f***ing gliders out of nowhere?

You cannot push people into a f***ing corner their whole lives and not expect them to fight back at a certain point, the social media personality railed.

In 2024, Piker evaded Piers Morgans persistent questioning as to whether he condemned or condoned the Oct. 7 massacre: I think that violent means of maintaining an apartheid is inevitably going to yield violent retaliation.

After Sydney, New York, and Montreal, the Associated Press moves into Colorado as its latest venue for cementing its status as antisemitisms definitive sanitizer.

The writer is director of media research and analysis for CAMERA (Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis) and director of the organizations Israel office.