BURLINGTON — Hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters surrounded a fundraiser for U.S. Rep. Becca Balint, D-Vt., in Burlington on Thursday night as others inside the event interrupted it in an attempt to pressure Balint to support a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas War.
The action came more than a month after Hamas militants launched a surprise attack on Israel — and as Israeli forces continued to bombard the Gaza Strip. Like other members of Vermont’s congressional delegation, Balint has called for a humanitarian pause in Gaza but has stopped short of advocating for a full cease-fire. The Vermont members of Congress, meanwhile, have faced pressure from an increasingly active pro-Palestinian movement in the state.
After assembling Thursday night at a rally outside of Burlington City Hall, a crowd of more than 200 protesters marched up Main Street at around 6 p.m. They surrounded J Skis, a ski shop and bar, as Balint and guests consumed drinks and pizza inside. Protesters pressed large banners demanding a cease-fire against the store’s windows and chanted at those inside.
As demonstrators crowded against the building, store employees blocked its front door. A group of protesters who had managed to get inside the fundraiser interrupted the proceedings to press their case. Holding signs reading “ceasefire now,” they sang a traditional Hebrew song, “Lo Yisa Goy,” about stopping war, according to organizers. A video of the demonstration inside was shared with VTDigger.
At first, the event carried on even as the demonstrators sang, with Balint staffers speaking quietly to the protesters. Eventually, Balint acknowledged them.
“You have First Amendment rights in this country, and you are absolutely entitled to say what is in your heart,” Balint said. She carried on with an at-times passionate response, dismissing the idea of a cease-fire she said Hamas would not agree to.
“My heart is with you, but I am not elected as an activist or a member of the Knesset,” Balint said, referring to the Israeli legislature. “I am a member of the U.S. Congress and I have to make decisions that will actually make it better.” The crowd of sympathetic guests inside cheered. Outside, the sounds of the larger demonstration boomed.
After the demonstrators inside the fundraiser left the event and joined others outside, two protest organizers, Debra Stoleroff, of Plainfield, and Kathy Shapiro, of Middlesex, were invited to speak with Balint staffers inside.
Stoleroff said in an interview that she had met with Balint’s state director, David Scherr, twice before. One purpose of Thursday’s protest, Stoleroff said, was to demand a meeting with Balint herself.
Scherr agreed to a meeting between the organizers and Balint, set for next week, according to Stoleroff. She said that she and Shapiro planned to focus on three main demands: a full cease-fire, an end to U.S. aid for the Israeli military, and humanitarian aid for Palestinians in Gaza.
Guests at Balint’s fundraiser, including City Councilor and mayoral candidate Joan Shannon, former House Speaker Shap Smith, and others tried to leave the building after the event ended early. As attendees filed past the crowd of protesters at the front door, they were often berated with jeers and shouts of “shame.”
At one point, the crowd chanted “from the river to the sea,” a pro-Palestinian slogan that some characterize as a genocidal, antisemitic call for the destruction of Israel and others maintain is a peaceful call for Palestinian sovereignty and self-determination.
“Why is Becca Balint hiding?” protester Ashley Smith shouted through a bullhorn. “You know why she’s hiding? Because that’s what you have to do if you support genocide.”
By 7 p.m., officers from the Burlington Police Department, including Chief Jon Murad, arrived and walked into the store. Smith, who was the most frequent voice on the bullhorn Thursday night, told the crowd it should disperse but led demonstrators through one last chant of “we’ll be back.” Smith later said he wasn’t interested in seeing anyone arrested. Much of the crowd gradually walked away.
But there were still a couple dozen protesters on site when Balint eventually left. She said nothing as staffers rushed her into a waiting vehicle. The remaining crowd launched into a chant of “cease fire now” as the car pulled away on Main Street.
Balint spokesperson Sophie Pollock said in a text message following the protest that “the statement (Balint) made in the room speaks for itself. The Congresswoman had a dialogue with the protestors and completely and totally supports their right to protest.”
Prior to Thursday’s demonstration outside Balint’s fundraiser, the protesters gathered on the Church Street side of City Hall around 5:30 p.m. Activists waved Palestinian and American flags and held signs that framed the war as a “genocide.” Several speakers, many of them identifying as Jewish, rallied the growing crowd. Some sang as they called for peace. One, who did not share a name, defended Hamas and denied that it was a terrorist organization.
The event was organized by Jewish Voice for Peace-Vermont and cosponsored by a dozen other organizations.
