Following the shooting of three Palestinian American men in Burlington on Saturday, leaders of faith communities across Vermont are reckoning with its ripple effects while trying to determine how to move forward in their communities.
“Every decent person is horrified by this, and heartbroken as well,” said Debbie Ingram, executive director of Vermont Interfaith Action and an ordained minister at the United Church of Christ.
The three men — Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdalhamid and Tahseen Aliahmad — had attended high school together in the West Bank. Now 20 years old and studying at different U.S. colleges, they had traveled to Awartani’s uncle’s house for Thanksgiving.
On Nov. 25, authorities have said, they were walking on North Prospect Street, speaking a mix of Arabic and English — two of them wearing keffiyehs, a traditional scarf often worn by Palestinians — when a white man allegedly shot and injured them. Jason Eaton, 48, was charged Monday with three counts of attempted second-degree murder and pleaded not guilty.
Since then, leaders of many different faiths in Vermont have condemned the shooting and offered support to the victims’ communities. In interviews, some articulated similar reactions of grief, outrage and fear — and said they hope officials will prosecute the shooting as a hate crime. They described conflicting emotions related to the Israel-Hamas War, which has escalated tensions around the world, and locally, over the past two months.
“It’s such a sad commentary on our society today that you can be walking down the street and literally gunned down in the street because of what you’re wearing or what language you’re speaking,” Ingram said.
Muslim leaders, in particular, said they’ve felt bolstered by community support, and in some cases that’s brought new strength. But that strength is mixed with fear, they said.
“It’s so difficult to even make sense of this,” said Fuad Al-Amoody, vice president of the Islamic Society of Vermont. “Me, I’ve been here for five years. I haven’t heard of something even close to this. So it’s just, it’s a shock to us, to the community.”
Al-Amoody said the mosque has increased its security measures since the shooting and now has multiple police officers conducting regular patrols near the center. Parents have wondered whether the center should close its weekend Islamic school, he said.
“We really don’t want to change our way of life. So yes, this is a big tragedy. But then, if we do change our way of life — going to pray or going to the (mosque) on Friday nights — then the people who started this, they’ve won,” Al-Amoody said, referring to the shooting. “So we have to be strong.”
The mosque does not currently have an imam, who would typically respond to such an event and lead the community through it, Al-Moody said. That has required him to take on a new role — talking to the press and making public statements, for example. He has also sent emails to community members to assure them that they will be safe worshiping in person.
“A lot of people in the community are scared,” he said. “Especially the Muslim community.”
Al-Moody is particularly worried about Muslim women, he said.
“When you see me, if you’re judgmental or you’re biased, you will judge me based on my skin, based on my looks,” he said. “But for Muslim women, the color doesn’t come first. It’s, ‘Oh, she’s a Muslim.’ ‘Oh, she’s wearing a hijab.’ I feel for them because if this continues and gets out of hand, the attacks across the United States, it’s going to impact them first.”
A representative of the Islamic Community Center of Vermont, based in Winooski, said he often wears a keffiyeh but that his family members have asked him not to wear it, concerned he could be targeted. He asked VTDigger not to use his name due to security concerns related to the shooting. Members of his community are scared, he said.
Al-Moody also expressed sadness about the war and, specifically, Israel’s conduct since Hamas killed more than 1,200 Israelis and took another 240 hostages in a surprise attack on Oct. 7. The Israeli military’s subsequent bombing and ground invasion of the Gaza Strip has killed some 15,000 people, many of them children, according to Reuters.
Al-Moody said it is difficult to be unsure about whether he can freely express the sadness his community is feeling. He is also frustrated that some Vermonters who feel the impact of Saturday’s shooting may feel less tied to, or passionate about, violence taking place in the Middle East.
In response to the shooting, a long list of leaders from Vermont’s Jewish communities signed a statement denouncing “this horrendous violence in our community” and “any hatred that could lead to an act like this.”
“Our hearts go out to these young men and their loved ones and to the Vermont Palestinian and Muslim communities. We hope the perpetrator(s) will be brought to justice,” the statement read.
Al-Moody said several rabbis offered to speak to members of his organization, and they plan to sit and talk this weekend.
Brattleboro-based Rabbi Amita Jarmon called the shooting a hate crime, and said news of the incident was “very, very disturbing.”
Jarmon said she moved to Vermont two years ago from Israel, where she had lived for 18 years. During that time, she worked as a physical therapist in nursing homes, and the other staff members were mostly Palestinian. She formed close relationships with them and still keeps in touch, she said.
While in Israel, she took part in a group that hosted listening circles for Israelis and Palestinians for a dozen years. She also worked with Rabbis for Human Rights to help protect Palestinians in the West Bank from being harassed by settlers as they conducted olive harvests.
Jarmon said has felt pain, turmoil and isolation watching events unfold in the Middle East. She said she worries that Saturday’s shooting could exacerbate — and in some cases already has exacerbated — tensions in Vermont.
“Like many other members of my community here, and my friends, we’re all torn to pieces,” she said. “Because we understand that the occupation is evil, and we understand … nobody’s happy to see 15,000 Palestinians be killed. On the other hand, there are people in the world who seem very happy to see (more than 1,200) Israelis get killed,” she said.
Jarmon said she was disturbed to read an account of an unidentified person during a Burlington rally on Sunday blaming Jewish and pro-Israel groups at the University of Vermont for the previous day’s shooting.
Jarmon attended a separate event in Brattleboro that she expected to be a vigil for the shooting victims. Others, however, focused on the “elephant in the room” — the war. When she told the crowd that the shooter was not a Jew or a Zionist, several voices responded negatively, she said.
“I can protest the Israeli government, but still be a very — there’s so much I love about Israel,” she said. “I love — it’s extremely painful.”
Eager to cross lines of difference, Jarmon said she’d like to reach out to people who expressed different views at the event in Brattleboro and said she’s considering bringing the listening circles she was part of in Israel to Vermont.
Al-Moody, of the Islamic Society of Vermont, said he has received more emails from people across the state expressing support than emails from people who are worried. One woman from Middlebury, he said, wrote to offer a vacant apartment and a car to the victims of the shooting until they recover.
“I mean, a stranger coming out,” Al-Moody said. “And that’s Vermont. That’s what I know about Vermont.”
Al-Moody said he would be hesitant to ever leave the state — the community bonds, even outside of the Islamic community, are too strong. He believes that an incident like the shooting won’t happen again.
“I know, I truly, truly believe that, together, we will navigate this,” he said. “We will go through this hardship, going up and down. We’ll be getting calls. But we will go through that, and I am sure that we will be much stronger.”
