Although the motive for the attack is unknown, it occurred amid rising anti-Palestinian sentiments in the United States.
Three young Palestinians were shot dead near a university campus in Vermont in the United States, according to media reports.
According to reports, the incident happened Saturday evening near the University of Vermont campus in the city of Burlington.
The three were identified as Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdel Hamid and Tahseen Ahmed. They study at three different universities in the United States.
According to the American-Arab Committee Against Discrimination (ADC), two of the victims are in intensive care while one was expected to be released on Sunday.
“(We) are deeply distressed by the recent incident involving three of our graduates,” the Friends School in Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank, where the three studied, said in a statement on Facebook.
“While we are relieved to know that they are alive, we remain uncertain about their condition. We send our thoughts and prayers to them and their families for a full recovery, especially given the severity of the injuries as Hisham was shot in the back, Tahseen in the chest and Kinnan was slightly injured. hurt.
Three young Palestinians, Hisham Awartani, Tahseen Ali and Kenan Abdulhamid, students at Brown and other American universities, were shot dead yesterday evening on their way to a family dinner in Burlington, United States. Their crime? Wear the Palestinian keffiyeh. They are seriously injured. And… pic.twitter.com/OwafFkHwg4
– Husam Zomlot (@hzomlot) November 26, 2023
The motive for the attack is unknown. Contacted by Tel Aviv Tribune, Burlington police did not immediately respond to a request for additional information.
“Hate is a motivator”
The ADC said it was contacted about the shooting earlier Sunday and had “reason to believe that this shooting was motivated by the fact that the three victims were Arab.”
“According to the information provided, the three victims wore a keffiyeh and spoke Arabic. A man shouted and harassed the victims, then shot them,” the group said in a statement.
This morning ADC was contacted regarding the shooting, after reviewing the information we have reason to believe that the shooting was motivated by the three victims being Arab.
The three victims wore a kuffiyeh and spoke Arabic. A man shouted and harassed the victims: pic.twitter.com/b8yoDvK8Nv
–ADC National (@adc) November 26, 2023
“Given the information collected and provided, it is clear that hatred was a motivating factor in this shooting,” said Abed Ayoub, director of the ADC.
“We call on law enforcement to investigate this matter. The rise in anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian sentiment that we are experiencing is unprecedented, and it is another example of this hatred becoming violent. »
The families of three students urged law enforcement authorities to fully investigate the incident, “including treating it as a hate crime.”
“We will not be at ease until the shooter is brought to justice,” the families said in a joint statement.
“We must ensure our children are protected and this heinous crime does not happen again. No family should ever have to endure this pain and agony.
The incident occurred amid rising anti-Palestinian sentiments in the United States, with Republican and Democratic politicians supporting Israel’s war in Gaza despite rising Palestinian death tolls and growing accusations of war crimes.
Israel’s ground and air attack on the besieged Gaza Strip has so far killed more than 15,000 Palestinians and left large swaths of the strip in ruins.