Jewish groups and leaders were quick to denounce anti-Palestinian hate following the shooting of three college students of Palestinian descent inVermont over the weekend. [People4Peace joins in condemning the shooting.]
Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdalhamid, and Tahseen Ali Ahmad — all age 20 — were walking near the University of Vermont in the city of Burlington when a gunman shot them, injuring the students and sending them to the hospital. All three students are alive — two were stable as of Sunday and one had sustained more serious injuries, according to police.
The victims — all of whom attend colleges in the northeast region of the US — were reportedly speaking in a mix of English and Arabic and two of them were also wearing black-and-white Palestinian keffiyeh scarves at the time of the shooting. Both local and federal authorities are investigating the incident as a possible hate crime.
[The report by The Aljemeiner continues]
The Jewish community wasted no time in condemning the shooting, as well as hatred directed against Arabs, Muslims, and Palestinians.’
[The Aljemeiner reported responses including from:]
New England office of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) tweeted on Sunday. “At a time of rising incidents of identity-based hate all too often targeting the Muslim and Jewish communities in increasingly violent ways, we join in the call to law enforcement to investigate this as a possible hate crime.”
Arizona State Rep. Alma Hernandez (D) posted to social media that Jews stand together against anti-Palestinian hate.
[The report by The Aljemeiner continues]
Jewish on Campus, an antisemitism watchdog that tracks anti-Jewish hatred on college campuses, tweeted, “We stand in solidarity with the victims and their families and hope for their quick recoveries.
[The report by The Aljemeiner continues]
Pro-Israel advocates, both Jewish and non-Jewish were also quick to condemn the shooting in Vermont.
“The United States should have zero tolerance for anti-Palestinian hate and violence. America belongs to all Americans, and the safety of each American is sacrosanct,” added Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY), a progressive lawmaker who has been a vocal supporter of Israel in the US Congress.
[The Washington Post covered the shooting. The Daily Beast reported on the crime and the victims, and the suspect.]
View about Jewish denunciations of this vile attack at The Aljemeiner