Palestinian student shot in Vermont paralyzed, but hopes to start next semester on time
One of the three Palestinian American students shot in Burlington, Vermont last week is paralyzed, but is still hoping to start his upcoming college semester “on time,” his family announced in a fundraising statement.
Hisham Awartani’s family said he is paralyzed from the chest down after he and his two friends, Kinnan Abdalhamid and Ali Ahmad, were shot while walking in Burlington late last month. The three men, all 20 years old and of Palestinian descent, were in Burlington to visit one of the victim’s families for the Thanksgiving holiday.
Two of the men wore keffiyehs when the shooting occurred, Burlington police said last month.
“We are thankful that all three will survive this attack, and Hisham’s friends are expected to make a full recovery,” Awartani’s family wrote in a GoFund Me post. “For Hisham, however, one of the bullets that struck him is lodged in his spine and has left him paralyzed from the chest down.”
The fundraiser for Awartani raised over $950,000 as of Monday through an estimated 13,600 separate donations. His family said the money will go towards the costs related to his recovery, including for rehabilitation, adaptive living needs and travel.
Awartani told his college professors he is determined to start the next semester “on time,” his family said. Awartani attends Brown University where he is pursuing a dual degree in math and archaeology.
“He’ll [Awartani] change the world though his sprint, his mind and his compassion for those much more vulnerable than himself, especially the thousands of dead in Gaza and many more struggling to survive the devastating humanitarian crisis unfolding there,” Awartani’s family wrote in a statement.
Abdalhamid, one of the other victims, was released last week from the hospital. It was not immediately clear if Ahmad, the third victim, has been released. Abdalhamid and Ahmad are students at Haverford College in Pennsylvania and Trinity College respectively.
Jason Eaton, who was arrested a day after the shooting, pleaded not guilty to three counts of attempted second-degree murder on Monday. The 48-year-old was held without bail ahead of his next court appearance.
Attorney General Merrick Garland said last week the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, along with the FBI, are investigating the shooting as a possible hate crime.
In an interview with The New York Times last week, Abdalhamid said the incident is “very hard to grapple with,” and made him question his sense of security and safety in America.
“In the West Bank, we’re not safe because of the occupation, and as a Palestinian American, I’m not safe in America because of people like this that might come out,” Abdalhamid told The Times.
The shooting further fueled fears on U.S. campuses, which have seen tensions increase amidst Israel’s war with Hamas, which began in October after the militant group’s Oct. 7 attack that left 1,200 people dead in Israel. More than 15,800 people have been killed in Gaza since Oct. 7, according to the Hamas-ruled Health Ministry in Gaza.
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