Three Palestinian students shot and wounded in Vermont, police say

Three college students described as being of Palestinian descent were shot and wounded on Saturday evening in Burlington, Vermont, on their way to a family dinner.

The head of the Palestinian mission to the UK, Husam Zomlot, identified the victims as Hisham Awartani, Tahseen Ahmed and Kinnan Abdalhamid, undergraduate students at Brown, Haverford and Trinity. Zomlot said on X – formerly known as Twitter – that each of the victims was wearing the Palestinian keffiyeh when they were attacked, though authorities have stopped short of publicly discussing a possible motive for the triple shooting.

Meanwhile, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee added in a separate post on X: “We have reason to believe that the shooting was motivated by the three [victims] being Arab.

“The three victims were wearing a kuffiyeh and speaking Arabic. A man shouted and harassed the victims.”

According to Seven Days Vermont, local authorities have only said three people were shot near the University of Vermont campus just before 6.30pm Saturday. The victims were taken to the University of Vermont medical center for treatment.

As of Sunday, police had not announced any suspects or arrests. Authorities had asked the public to avoid the area.

The Council on American Islamic Relations (Cair) National is offering a $10,000 reward for any information leading to the arrest and prosecution of the perpetrator or perpetrators of the crime.

Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont issued a statement calling news of the shooting, “shocking and deeply upsetting”.

The families of the three victims issued a joint statement.

“We call on law enforcement to conduct a thorough investigation, including treating this as a hate crime,” said the statement. “We will not be comfortable until the shooter is brought to justice.”

CBS news local affiliate Channel Three confirmed all three shooting victims are of Palestinian descent but did not name them.

The Ramallah Friends School issued a statement on Facebook naming the victims and describing them as graduates of the Palestinian high school.

“We extend our thoughts and prayers to them and their families for a full recovery, especially considering the severity of injuries – as Hisham has been shot in the back, Tahseen in the chest, and Kinnan with minor injuries,” the post said. “While we are relieved to know that they are alive, we remain uncertain about their condition and hold them in the light.”

Basil Awartani posted on X that his cousin Hisham Awartani is one of the shooting victims and alleged the attack was a hate crime. He asserted that the victims were targeted for speaking Arabic and wearing kuffiyehs.

“My cousin Hisham has been shot in the back while walking with his friends in Burlington for simply wearing kuffiyehs and speaking Arabic,” Basil Awartani wrote. “Dangerous performative rhetoric from US pundits and politicians as well as constant dehumanization of Palestinians has a real life cost.”

The FBI is aware of the shooting and said the agency will investigate if local investigation uncovers any possible federal violation. The White House said President Joe Biden has been briefed on the situation and will continue to monitor it as the investigation is ongoing.

The allegations about the shooting’s circumstances come amid a reported rise of Islamophobia and antisemitism in the US after the Israel-Hamas war erupted in Gaza in October.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (Cair) reported receiving 1,283 requests for help and reports of bias from the beginning of October to early November, an increase of 216% compared to 2022.

The Anti-Defamation League reported a nearly 400% increase in antisemitic incidents compared to 2022. And the New York police department reported a 214% in reported hate crimes against Jews in October.

The Los Angeles police department was investigating a protest outside the home of American Israel Public Affairs Committee president Michael Tuchin on Thanksgiving as a possible hate crime. Authorities said demonstrators set off smoke bombs and spattered fake blood on the property.

Saturday’s shooting occurred a little more than a week after a man reportedly selling Muslim goods outside a mosque in Rhode Island’s capital city, Providence, was shot and wounded.

Police haven’t given any updates since the shooting about possible suspects or a potential motive, leading to a sense of unease for the local Muslim community, the Providence Journal reported.

Zomlot on Saturday alluded to the killing of Wadea Al-Fayoume, 6, in Illinois in October. Authorities accused Al-Fayoume’s family’s landord of stabbing the child to death – and wounding his mother – because they were Muslims.

“The hate crimes against Palestinians must stop,” Zomlot wrote on X. “Palestinians everywhere need protection.”