A Boulder, Colorado city council member is facing backlash after refusing to sign a joint statement condemning a firebombing attack at a rally in support of Israeli hostages, objecting to the statement’s description of the incident as antisemitic without also labeling it “anti-Zionist.”

Councilmember Taishya Adams said her request to include the term “anti-Zionist” in the statement was denied, prompting her decision not to sign.

“I cannot sign a letter that equates the calls for a ‘Free Palestine’ with antisemitism,” Adams wrote on Facebook. “Without the anti-Zionist part, the reader will fail to understand a key driver of this terrible attack.” She emphasized that she condemns the attack and its perpetrator, whom she said “was explicit about ending Zionism.”

The official city statement described the incident as a “targeted, antisemitic attack” and affirmed Boulder’s commitment to opposing antisemitism: “We cannot – and will not – allow antisemitism to become normalized here.”

Adams, who serves as Boulder’s sister city liaison to Nablus (Shechem), a Palestinian city in the West Bank, has previously been accused of anti-Jewish discrimination by members of a local hostages’ advocacy group. The group claims Adams blocked them on her official Instagram account and ignored their outreach.

The firebombing follows months of tension at Boulder City Council meetings, which have been repeatedly disrupted by anti-Israel demonstrators. According to the Boulder Reporting Lab, a Jewish council member has previously expressed feeling unsafe at council sessions due to the protests.

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