Dear JCOGS Family,
As many are aware, three college students of Palestinian descent were the victims of an unprovoked and senseless shooting last Saturday night in Burlington. While an investigation is underway, authorities are looking into whether this crime was motivated by bias and hate —two of the victims were wearing kaffiyehs, a traditional Palestinian headdress, and speaking a hybrid of English and Arabic at the time of the attack.
We first and foremost pray for the speedy and complete recovery of all three victims: Tahseen Ahmed, 20, of Trinity College, Kinnan Abdalhamid, 20, of Haverford College, and Hisham Awartani, 20, of Brown University. The students were shot while walking to the home of Hisham Awartani’s grandmother for dinner.
In response to this violence, I added my name on behalf of the JCOGS leadership to the statement below. Organized by Jewish Communities of Vermont, our message is in support of the students, their families, and the Vermont Palestinian and Muslim communities in the wake of this horrific attack.
We are saddened and appalled by the shooting of three Palestinian American college students that took place on Saturday, November 25 in Burlington. 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.
We denounce this horrendous violence in our community. And we denounce any hatred that could lead to an act like this. As Jews, we are keenly aware of the impact of violence on minority religious communities, and so we stand in solidarity with our Muslim brothers and sisters at this frightening time.
We have contacted the Islamic Center of Vermont president to offer our support. We pray for the recovery and strength of those impacted by this horrific act.
A full list of Jewish community signatories can be found below.* We will continue to update the JCOGS community with ways to support the affected families and the Islamic Center of Vermont as we are made aware of opportunities to do so.
The image of young men attacked while wearing ancestral garb on their heads, interspersing their English with words from their people’s native language—it hits close to home for me as a Jew, and motivates me to stand with our neighbors against Islamophobia and xenophobia, alongside Antisemitism. Perhaps it does for you too.
When I joined JCOGS, I learned that the JCOGS’s cemetery is called Darchei Shalom, meaning “Paths of Peace.” I admired the name, and was reminded of the following passage from the Babylonian Talmud:
“Our Sages taught: One gives to the non-Jewish poor with the Jewish poor, visits the non-Jewish sick with the Jewish sick, and buries the non-Jewish dead with the Jewish dead. This is done in order to build darchei shalom, paths of peace.”
As we pray for the healing of Tahseen, Kinnan, and Hisham, and offer our support to Vermont’s Palestinian and Muslim communities, let us build darchei shalom, paths of peace.
With prayers for healing, and for peace,
Emmanuel Cantor
Rabbinic Intern
*Rabbi David Edleson, Temple Sinai, S. Burlington
Rabbi Aaron Philmus, Ohavi Zedek Synagogue
Rabbi Jan Salzman, Congregation Ruach haMaqom
Rabbi Eliyahu Junik, Chabad of Vermont
Matt Vogel, UVM Hillel
Rabbi Tobie Weisman, Jewish Communities of Vermont
Emmanuel Cantor, Rabbinical Intern, Jewish Community of Greater Stowe
Board of Directors, Beth Jacob Synagogue, Montpelier
Michael Brown, President, Woodstock Area Jewish Community
Cantor Scott Buckner, Israel Center of Manchester
Rabbi Amita Jarmon, Brattleboro Area Jewish Community
Rabbi Seth Daniel Riemer, Congregation Beth El, Bennington
