The Israel-Hamas war remains one of the most passionate issues in the world, and on a day that below-freezing temps swept across Denver, pro-Palestinian protesters brought that heat to the steps of the Colorado State Capitol during the State of the State address.
Close to 100 people gathered to voice their disapproval of Gov. Jared Polis' support for Israel and other policies. The protest was organized by Americans for the Justice in Palestine Action (AJP Action) and other groups.
"Jared Polis pedals himself as some sort of progressive, but he's actually not progressive when it comes to his policy on really anything -- from the environment all the way to Palestine. Especially the environment and especially Palestine," said Abdullah Elagha, an organizer with the Colorado Palestine Coalition.
Elagha was born in the Middle East and lived in Gaza for a few years when he was younger. He's lived in Denver for about six years. Elangha said he takes issue with what he described as Polis' Zionist views. Polis is Colorado's first Jewish governor and spoke recently at a meeting for the Jewish National Fund, a Zionist organization. Zionism is a belief and movement to establish a Jewish homeland where the population would be safe from antisemitic violence.
Elagha believes Polis is ignoring his Palestinian American constituents.
"I'm Palestinian. I've lost over a hundred relatives in Gaza in the aggression over the past three months, and it's really, it's hurtful to see that my governor is speaking about my people this way and ignoring my thoughts and my concerns," said Elagha.
The shouts from protesters were at times audible in the House chamber as Polis gave his address. While Polis did not mention the conflict directly, he did refer to it, and its impact in the state.
"Sadly, in the last few months there's been a dramatic increase in horrific acts of hate across the world, including here at home in Colorado," said Polis. "Between October 7th and January 7th, the Anti-Defamation League recorded a 360% increase in anti-semitic incidents nationwide. The rise in antisemitism, Islamophobia, and hate in all of its forms is simply unacceptable in the state of Colorado."
Polis noted that he worked with lawmakers to approve an extra $1 million in security grants last month for houses of worship at risk of bias-motivated attacks.
"Colorado is a state that welcomes everyone. No matter your country, your background, where or how you worship, who you love, every single person has the right to feel safe at home, in their community, and yes, in their place of worship," said Polis in his speech.
He was joined at the State of the State by representatives of a Jewish girls' high school in Denver and a mosque in Fort Collins, both of which have received grants.
In the crowd of protesters outside the capitol, Meera Alul, who is Palestinian American and has lost dozens of relatives in Gaza during the current war, said that the demonstrators also recognize that anti-Semitism remains an issue.
"We are here standing for all of our Jewish brothers and sisters as well as all of our Palestinian brothers and sisters, regardless of race, religion, ethnicity, you name it. We're here for freedom and basic human rights for all," Alul said. "Zionism is just a political movement that's using Judaism and shamefully using one Holocaust to justify committing this genocide."
This was the pro-Palestinian demonstrators' second visit to the Capitol this week. On Wednesday, the legislature's opening day, demonstrators briefly disrupted work in the House, as they stood and chanted in the public viewing gallery.
Elagha, who was part of that group and held a Palestinian flag over the balcony before being escorted out by State Patrol, says they don't plan on stopping demonstrations anytime soon.
"This is the people's house. Those elected officials sitting in there, we elected them. They're in there to do a job that we hired them for. And if they won't listen to us -- they might feel comfortable, but we will replace them, and they will continue to hear our voices."
Climate activists also came out to protest Polis' support for fracking in Colorado.
During his speech, Polis trumpeted progress on the climate, touting that his administration "has delivered on more than 95% of the actions outlined in our first Greenhouse Gas Pollution Reduction Roadmap, and will soon be releasing our second roadmap with more than 40 new actions."
However, outside the building, protesters focused on a different number -- the roughly 1,000 drilling permits state regulators have approved each year since Polis took office in 2018. Caitlin Maeve is a local climate activist. She's concerned Colorado won't meet its climate goals with so many new oil and gas wells in the state.
"That goes against everything that he said as promising to be a climate champion," Maeve said. "If we keep approving these permits, our planet is going to keep warming and we are completely going against our goals of making this a cleaner environment for all of us."
The rally ended with pro-Palestine and anti-fracking activists joining up with another group, 350 Colorado, which was holding a separate protest on the other side of the Capitol. The combined groups rallied briefly before disbursing into the cold.
