This article was produced as part of JTA’s Teen Journalism Fellowship, a program that works with Jewish teens around the world to report on issues that affect their lives.

Sunday marked the 84th week of the Run for Their Lives walk in Plainview, New York, and I have attended about 50 of them. Over the past year, I never felt nervous during these walks meant to raise awareness for the hostages held in Gaza, knowing that my town has a large Jewish population and that we have the support of the local police.

However, last Sunday, I approached the march with a slight sense of fear. On June 3, a man tossed homemade fire bombs at a Run for Their Lives march in Boulder, Colorado, injuring 12 people. After the Boulder firebombing, many communities across the country faced a painful question: Should the walks continue?

When I arrived at the parking lot near the Plainview Shoprite where the Sunday morning Run for Their Lives walk began, I saw a heavy police presence: more than eight patrol cars and a state trooper securing the main road for the march.

What I hadn’t expected to see were crowds of people carrying Israeli flags and hostage posters: Despite the hate crime in Boulder, 150 people in my Syosset/Plainview chapter showed up for the weekly one-and-a-half mile walk. We ignored the police barricades and focused on........

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