Three Palestinian students injured in a shooting incident close to a US university in Vermont

The families of three Palestinian students who were shot in Vermont are calling for the police to investigate the incident as a hate crime. The three students, Hisham Awartani, Tahseen Ahmed, and Kinnan Abdalhamid, were confronted and shot near the University of Vermont Campus, according to Burlington Police. The police are currently looking into the possible motives behind the attack but have noted that the victims were wearing traditional scarfs and speaking Arabic when they were attacked. Authorities are now searching for the suspect, who is believed to have fled on foot. Two of the victims are in stable condition, while the third suffered more severe injuries. The three students all attended the Ramallah Friends School, a Quaker-run private non-profit school in Ramallah. Haverford College has identified Kinnan Abdalhamid as one of its students, while Hisham Awartani attends Brown University, and Tahseen Ahmed goes to Trinity College in Connecticut. The families of the victims expressed their concerns and called on law enforcement to thoroughly investigate the attack, treating it as a hate crime. They stated that they will not be at ease until the shooter is brought to justice. The shooting incident occurred at a time when the United States is witnessing a surge in Islamophobic and antisemitic incidents, including violent assaults and online harassment, amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict. Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders condemned the violence and emphasized that hate has no place in society. The head of the Palestinian Mission to the UK, Ambassador Husam Zomlot, shared a photo of the three students on social media, calling for an end to hate crimes against Palestinians.