 There's two, I want to be supporters of this from this country. Everybody, if you could gather around. So again, my name's Ashley Smith. I'm a member of the Tempest Collective and the Vermont Coalition for Palestinian Liberation. And I just wanted to read out a statement from the Arab American Defense Committee that was issued today about the horrific hate crime, racist crime that happened in our community, that somebody shot three Palestinian men right near here. And the ADC writes, earlier this morning, ADC was aware of the shooting of three Palestinian American Arab students in Burlington, Vermont. After reviewing the initial information provided, we have reason to believe this shooting occurred because the victims are Arab. All three victims survived the initial shooting. However, two of them are currently in the ICU. And one of the students sustained very critical and serious injuries. The full extent of injuries is unknown at this time. The students, each of them 20 years of age, Mr. Hisham Awartani of Brown University, Mr. Kanan Abdel Hamid of Haberford University, and Mr. Tahsin Ahmed of Trinity University. The students gathered together to enjoy Thanksgiving break. According to the information provided, the three victims were wearing a kafia and speaking Arabic and shouted and a man shouted and harassed the victims, then proceeded to shoot them. The ADC calls on law enforcement in Vermont to investigate this shooting as a hate crime. In addition, the ADC has reached out to the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation to also call on an immediate hate crimes investigation. The ADC National Executive Director Abed Ayub said, we are praying for a full recovery of the victims, and we will stand by to support the families in any way that is needed. Given the information collected and provided, it is clear that hate was a motivating factor in this shooting, and we call on law enforcement to investigate it as such. The surge in anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian sentiment we are experiencing is unprecedented, and this is another example of that hate turning violent. So I just want to first introduce Wafeek Fawor, who is a leader of the Palestinian community in Vermont and a leader of Vermoners for Justice in Palestine. Wafeek. Salam alaikum. Thank you for coming again. We've been calling you again and again, and you've been showing up for support. It is a strange day for me today because usually for the last 52 days, I've been calling my family every day, sometimes 10, 20 times, to know how are they. And today, I receive so many calls from my family members to ask me, how am I? Is that possible in Vermont? Yes, it is possible. From the perspective of the family, we are in contact with. They appreciate you very much, and they want you to stand up and pray for the victims at the same times, don't contribute, but to an account they're going to set up very soon. They wish you safety tonight. They learned about this quick organized rally, and they feel toward you and for your safety. When I talk to them, they know very much it is. What kind of a crime? It's a hate crime. What kind of a crime? What kind of a crime? And a hate crime against the Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim community, some of you, they think it doesn't happen. It happens a lot. But we have to ask ourselves, what is the source of that hate? Who fueling that hate? You have the administration from the federal level to the local level have been fueling hate against Muslim, against Arab, against Palestinian for years. Do you agree with me? Do you agree? I have to mention something. Weinberger, the mayor of this town, called me before I came here two hours ago, because I insisted that the police, when I called them this morning, just to check on the three students, because they said they are visitor of Vermont, so they don't have family. And who are the family of those students if the family are not here? So my community are the family. So the police promised to call back. They didn't. They haven't. They haven't. And how to trust the local police, mainly Berlington police, when the last time we met them was Friday evening, the same time like now. And they came to harass us because we are calling for Palestinian justice, for ceasefire. And we were individual and silent and respectful of all cultural and tradition the occasion needed. The mayor and the governor, who came with a statement today, both of them, they showed up quickly on October 8 to deny the Palestinian rise of self-determination and to call the activists like you as anti-thematic. We didn't see them on any rally when we called for a ceasefire and safety for our children. Fueling hatred from administration and with the police, when the mayor asked me if you want the police to protect you today, I said, no. No. Would you trust the police? No. The police and the administration and all these apparatus have been harassing our sisters and brothers in a black and brown community and our migrants community. You agree? Yes. So Palestinian and Arab Muslim are in a good company. Do you agree? And for that, for that, we need you again. And we want to ask you to be patient with us because we're going to call you again. Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim community under fire, and they need you for solidarity. For that, we're going to ask you again. And we're going to ask you to stand up for ending occupation and apartheid in Palestine. We're going to ask you again and again to show up. And we're going to ask you not to stop showing up. Thank you, solidarity. Next, we have a couple of speakers. I'm here representing students for justice in Palestine at UVM. Our hearts are broken. We have no words to describe the pain, the sorrow, the rage that is coursing through our blood right now. We have spent what feels like an eternity being forced to watch the brutal slaughter of people whose only crime was to be Palestinian, whose only crime was to resist. And now we watch three young men in our own community viciously attacked for the same reason. This was a crime of unspeakable racist hatred, a crime born out of white supremacy, out of fascist genocidal malice, a crime born out of Zionism. This attack is the direct result of the horrific tide of dehumanizing rhetoric against us. This attack is the direct result of the refusal of our institutions to protect us from it. We warned from day one that this is what their rhetoric would lead to, that this is what their erasure would lead to. And now that the murder attempts have begun, the shameless monsters who have enabled this are offering their sympathy. The director of Hillel, who incited racist fear against us, who accused us of supporting terrorism for fighting back, is now apparently devastated. Leaders of pro-Israel student groups who work for the Israel and Campus Coalition, who spread racist vitriol and propaganda on their public social media, now say that they are horrified. We say to them, you enabled this. The blood is also on your hands. We do not want your sympathy. Each of those three men could have been our members. For all we know, we could have been the intended target. We do not want your solidarity against hate. You are the hate. We are not just here to condemn. We are here to fight back. Fight back against our governments who pay for our killing. Fight back against the fascists who want us dead. Fight back against our institutions who do nothing as they try to kill us. We cannot beg for our humanity. Our humanity does not come from them. We can condemn. We can write our speeches. We can say every word in existence as they kill us. All of it is meaningless unless we fight back. When you are oppressed, the only option you have is to fight. When you are oppressed, you only have one option. Confront the enemy and stand tall without fear. Because if you cower, if you surrender, it will kill you while you are lying down. We must continue to fight no matter what they do. We must never capitulate. We must be ready to fight until we are no longer breathing, until we have nothing left to give. Because to surrender your freedom and exchange for life is no life at all. It is only when we dare to struggle that we dare to win. When I say, dare to struggle, you say, dare to win. Dare to struggle, dare to win, dare to struggle, dare to struggle, dare to win, dare to struggle, we must keep turning out, come to the protests, come to the rallies, keep fighting back until we are free, until Palestine is free. Also here representing UVMSJP. And I wanted to address that this afternoon, UVMS President Suresh Garamillo released his regularly scheduled long-awaited hollow statement regarding this horrific shooting. Sorry, I'm like, my voice has been, yeah. OK, but Suresh this afternoon told us in his statement, he starts with local news outlets reported the victims are men of Palestinian descent. No motive is known. While we are not aware of any specific threat to the UVM community, the circumstances of the crime are still under investigation and an assailant has not been identified. This brief statement has left us all with many more concerns than any reassurance. The assailant has not been identified, but also apparently we have no imminent threat to be worrying about. It's become increasingly clear that when Palestinians are targeted for their open expression of their identity, openly in a residential area so close to our own campus, it's not just blatantly insensitive to these three individuals, but it is irresponsible to the rest of the UVM community, particularly our own Palestinian and Arab students, to deny that any possibility that they are at risk. He's given us no concrete action steps that the university or police are taking to remedy this attack, to protect students from the possibility of another attack, all while haphazardly throwing in there that, by the way, the suspect has not even been identified, much less apprehended. He then urged us essentially not to think about it too much. He said, in this period of unrest in other regions of the world, we encourage you to pay close attention to the sources and authenticity of information you receive about this incident. We ask you to do your part in helping to avoid speculation as the investigation progresses. That's right. This email concludes with having provided no resources beyond the police and a couple faculty offices, which, so no resources, no assurance of safety was provided for a Palestinian and Arab student body, a student body who has overwhelmingly expressed concerns, expressed outright examples of discrimination they've faced on this campus, expressed their fears for their safety. Suresh has time and time again dismissed these concerns. These three young men could have easily been students at UVM. We have Palestinian students who proudly have worn their cafes around campus, who are now terrified to walk in public. God forbid they become victims of another similar attack. And the UVM administration has repeatedly failed these students, if even on a good day, acknowledging that they are here at all. In the absence of any meaningful response from our university or our police in general, it is evident that we need to keep ourselves safe as a community. We cannot let this fear that we are rightfully feeling instill complacency. Our community defense will be strengthened as we continue mobilizing against the threat of Zionism as it is present in Burlington and the hate that it instills against our community members. UVM and Burlington police can and will continue to deny that this attack was racially and politically motivated. And in this case, we are obligated to continue applying pressure in maintaining that this was a targeted hate crime that has zero place in our community and that we will not rest until our Palestinian community members are safe to express themselves freely. Thank you. I think that shows what our siblings just said, that the question of Palestinian liberation is not a question over there. It's a question right here in the United States, where there's a new McCarthyism against Palestinians, Arabs, and Muslims standing up for their rights and the freedom of their homeland. And we have to resist that new McCarthyism. We will not tolerate it in Burlington. We will not tolerate it in this country. And we will not tolerate it anywhere around the world. That's why, as Wafiq always says, our collective liberation is bound up with the liberation of Palestine. Palestine is not an issue over there. It's an issue here. Our cops are bad, in part because they're trained by the Israeli Defense Forces. Our border guards are racist pigs because they're trained by the Israeli Defense Forces. And our government is on the side of Israel, not on the side of Palestinians. They are guilty for whipping up a climate of racism, censoring Arabs and Muslims, silencing Palestinians. And we have had it. We are drawing a line in the sand tonight. Never again means now, not to any Palestinian sibling will we tolerate this kind of violence, this kind of death threat, this kind of censorship. It ends tonight. Everybody in Burlington has to stand shoulder to shoulder with our Palestinian siblings. If you do not have a kafia, you should buy one and wear one so that all Palestinians feel safe wearing their own kafias because they are safe when everyone wears a kafia in solidarity with Palestine. One announcement, there is a Zionist a little way up the street who's waving an Israeli flag on what God's earth would somebody come after three people were shot by a racist pig and bring an Israeli flag. That is the font of racism and it has no business in our community, especially at a solidarity rally in support of three victims of hate, of a hate crime. And just so you know, we have a de-escalation team keeping that person away from our protests. So please do not confuse that de-escalation team with that Zionist pig. That person is being kept away by that team of people. That makes our protests safe. So make sure that everybody knows that. Next, I wanted to introduce Helen Scott from the University of Vermont who is the faculty advisor for students injustice in Palestine. Thank you. Thank you all for being here tonight. It's so important that we've shown up. I just want to tell you that last month, the brilliant Palestinian poet, Muhammad El-Kurd, should have spoken on campus. You may have heard that UVM canceled Muhammad El-Kurd and I just want to clarify. It was not all of UVM who canceled this event. What happened, as soon as we advertised the event, as always happens, there were complaints. A Palestinian coming to campus, this will encourage hate speech. This is anti-Semitism, this is dangerous. All of the sponsoring departments and organizations were encouraged, strongly urged, to withdraw their sponsorship because this event couldn't happen. I want to tell you that all of the sponsoring organizations refused to cancel. We unanimously looked at the charges and accusations against this poet and said, no, none of this holds. This man is a spoken critic of Israel and Israel's policies. There is nothing here to suggest anti-Semitism. He is a man of great love who speaks with great love of his family, his people, and of all people. He has a place at UVM, we invited him, he will come. We were actually assured that UVM respects and values academic freedom and that there was no possibility of a cancellation. We were so relieved, I felt so proud to be part of the university that we're standing up against the trend which is to cancel, cancel, cancel anything to do with Palestine. Guess what? Just a few days before the event, we got a message from the university saying this event will not happen on our campus. And the reason that they gave was safety and security. Well, it's absolutely clear to me that in a climate where somebody has canceled because they're Palestinian, you're opening the way for somebody to take a gun and shoot somebody because they're Palestinian. That's why all of the co-sponsoring organizations were furious, upset, distressed. We, of course, went ahead and had the event online. 1,000 people turned up for the live stream, 7,000 people watched it. UVM did not cancel, but how it all occurred. However, clearly their intention is to cancel Palestinians. That's right, that's right. And that's why we cannot let that happen. In fact, now more than ever, we need to talk about Palestine. We need to talk about Palestinians. We need to refuse the hate. We need to stand in solidarity when people are attacked and when they're not attacked and when they're defending their civil rights and when they're standing up for self-determination. That's what all of us here need to do wherever we are in our workplaces, in our homes, with our families, with our friends. Do not let them silence us. What Helen just said is the key thing. That hate crime, combined with UVM, combined with our Mayor Weinberger, combined with our Governor Scott, combined with the Biden administration, are trying to silence Palestine. We will not be silenced. Their threat, their intimidation, will only make us raise our voices ever louder. And we have to do that. Not only tonight, we have a rally in Montpelier on December 2nd, which is this coming Saturday at 1 p.m. We have to assemble our forces, then turn out to that rally. This must be a mass, anti-racist action in solidarity with the people of Palestine, not only in Palestine, but right here in Vermont. So everybody has to get in a car, if you're in Burlington or somewhere else in the state, and get to Montpelier. Because we need lots of people to send a message to our government here and in D.C., and the governments of the world, that the Palestinian liberation movement will not be silenced. Next, we have Michelle from Cooperation Vermont. Hi, folks. My name is Michelle McCormick. I'm with Cooperation Vermont. And we are also a part of the Vermont Coalition for Palestinian Liberation. And on the right here, a million things are running through my mind. And normally, for folks that know me, I do a really concerted, I make a concerted effort to clean it up when I'm speaking at the mic in front of folks. But man, I got it to, I am good and pissed. I am good and pissed now, right? And so normally I spend a lot of time doing call in, right? I live in a rural community in our state and I spend a lot of time, a lot of time talking to folks on an individual and small group level about the things that are going on in our community and our world. But you know what? Tonight, I'm gonna take this moment to do a little fucking call out. I'm calling out you, and I'm calling out you, sir. Sir. Hey, hey, media. Yeah, I'm talking to you. I'm calling you out. Do your job. You see all these people here tonight? Did it take three young people with a bullet in them to get your asses out here? Fucking church mouse. Who came in sitting in to open massacre. 7,000 children and counting to date. And you ghosted the shit out of that moment, but what did you do? Trying to do something good. When he was protestors, we protect us. So I'm gonna ask you, here's what I'm doing, and I'm gonna ask you to join me in this, right? Voice anywhere. Vandana Shiva was on the radio. She was talking about food security, but the same principles apply. She said it is love carry us into the future. Love and care. And she says that love into the relations. That you and me love and care happens. You have to build relationships, not just Zoom meetings. You have to build relationships with those around you. Love and care. And she said that it happens on the local level. So I'm gonna ask you to get busy building those relationships. And I'm gonna ask you to get busy fighting back and showing up for events and figuring out the ways that we're gonna organize collectively to start taking care of ourselves. To build that level of community defense. And I'm gonna stop yelling now. I just wanna add to what Michelle said about the behavior of the chief of police, Murad, at the vigil that we organized. When we peacefully marched up Church Street with Christmas carols playing in a mournful spirit about the what, I don't even know how many now Palestinian children who've been massacred by Israel's genocidal war. Thousands, 7,000 at least. We don't know the exact numbers. When we assembled peacefully up there, he came up to me several times because I was waving a Palestinian flag and said, if you wave that flag, you're obstructing the view of our tree lighting ceremony and I will have you arrested. And he waved a cinch thing in front of my eyes and said, I will have you arrested. Luckily, I had a lawyer right next to him who was filming all of this, writing down the details because let them do whatever they want. We will not be intimidated. Cause we know we are the world's majority. People are marching all over the world in solidarity with Palestine. From Washington, DC, to Barcelona, to Jakarta, to every corner of Latin America, people are chanting all together, Free, Free Palestine. Free, Free Palestine. Long live Palestine. Long live Palestine. Free, Free Palestine. Free, Free Palestine. Long live Palestine. Long live. Next we have Sophie from Jewish Voice for Peace. Everyone, yeah, my name's Sophie. I'm part of Jewish Voice for Peace Vermont, New Hampshire chapter. I'd like to read our statement regarding the recent events. We are horrified and appalled by the shooting of our three Palestinian students last night in Burlington, just steps away from where we are now. We are in solidarity with the students, their families, and all those affected by this clear act of hate. We are in solidarity with all Palestinian people in occupied Palestine, around the world, and here in Vermont. And we are committed to creating a Vermont that is safe and welcoming for all. Recent and past rhetoric about the ongoing genocide in Gaza from our local University of Vermont administrators to national elected officials has been incredibly dehumanizing of Palestinians and fan the flames of hatred that led to this violence. We as Jews here in Vermont and New Hampshire and around the country and around the world reject all forms of Islamophobia, anti-Arab racism, anti-Semitism, and other types of oppression. Our safety only comes when our communities move to address this hatred together. We call on Burlington Mayor Weinberger, Governor Scott, and our congressional delegates, Senator Bernie Sanders, Senator Peter Welch, Becca Ballant. Where are you at? Move to address this act of hate against Palestinians and horrifying violence that has occurred here. We are committed to continue to organize to create safety for our communities. And I'd like to say, if you are standing here tonight and you are a Jew who is horrified by what is happening, who is feeling alone, who is feeling isolated in your communities, who is wondering where you can go to stand in solidarity, to be with folks who share your experiences and share your grief and share your pain and share your commitment to standing in solidarity with Palestine, please come join us for the New Hampshire chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace. We are rallying. We're organizing as quickly as we possibly can. We will be there on December 2 at the State House. We have meetings coming up. Please be in touch. Please get involved. Just like Michelle said, this can only happen when we show love, when we show care, when we are meeting each other where we're at one to one as individuals, as part of this larger fight for collective liberation. Thank you. Thank you, Sophie. One thing that we have taught all of this country is that when we organize and we protest, we can turn politicians from one position to another position. Because of our protest, at Rebecca Ballant's fundraiser, which many of us were at, I'd say 250, 300 strong, chanting, free Palestine, out through the plate glass window of her Gucci-class fundraiser, surprise, surprise. And the next day, she came out for a ceasefire. What that shows, if we organize, if we protest, if we demonstrate, we can force politicians to do the right thing. But we're not satisfied with just a ceasefire. We want an end to all USAID to Israel. We want an end to the occupation of the West Bank. We want an end to the siege of Gaza. We want an end to apartheid in Israel. We want, from the river to the sea, a free, from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free. And that's not just in Palestine. That's in this United States of America, where we supposedly have a constitution and liberties and rights. Those are being violated all across this country. As we assemble tonight, people are being fired from their jobs, canceled at their schools, their SJP chapters suspended. And that's an act of racism that we will not tolerate. And we are going to get all the politicians to say and do the right thing through our mass organizing from below. So with that, I'd like to introduce our Lieutenant Governor, David Zuckerman. Thank you, Ashley. I'm not fired up in the same way. I was thinking today, someone earlier mentioned Vandana Shiva while I was washing carrots, or harvested, about the harm that is caused over and over again. And from the harm comes deep pain. And from pain comes anger. And all too often from anger comes harm. Harm, pain, anger. Harm, pain, anger. It's a cycle that's now gone on for thousands of years. And we have to break this cycle. There are thousands dead from this most recent hell. And now we have three injured Palestinians here in Burlington because of this harm, pain, anger cycle. I'm here in solidarity with everyone here, I think in first wishing for their health and recovery. There are three people in our community who are feeling that pain and struggling, one potentially for their life is my understanding. That's why I'm here first and foremost, is what can we do in our community. I stand here to stand with oppressed people who now fear for their lives just walking down the street here in Burlington. No good comes from senseless killing, senseless attacks, senseless harm. But also I worry at finger pointing over and over again because we as adults perpetuate othering by finger pointing. And someone earlier spoke of the community connection. That's what we need to be doing is connecting with people who are all here in pain and in other places in pain. I've talked with people all across the country. So many people grieving, so many people in pain. We can't turn that pain into pain for others. My understanding, and I'm not a particularly religious person, from my understanding of any of the religions we could bring up today is that they're about caring for those who have the least. They're about love, including love for those that we might not think we can love. And so I'm here in solidarity with our brothers and sisters who are in deep pain today and tomorrow and yesterday and back to October 7th and beyond before that to work towards a better solution than finger pointing in anger because the next thing after anger is going to be more harm and more pain. Thank you. Thank you, David. Just one thing that I think we can do that will make an immediate difference here in Burlington and this whole state is pass the apartheid-free Burlington resolution. We are collecting signatures to put that question on the ballot because we could not get it through the city council because some Zionist representatives blocked it. So we are going to put it to the people of Burlington. Are you on the side of apartheid or are you on the side of liberation? We will have to do a tremendous amount of work, educating, organizing, meeting with people to turn Burlington into an apartheid-free city. And so our challenge is in the immediate is to rally and protest against hate crimes and for a free Palestine. But we want to make a material difference here in Burlington by passing that. If we can pass that here, we can pass it in all the towns of Vermont. And if we can pass it in all the towns of Vermont, we can pass it through the state legislature and we can implement a genuine apartheid-free state of Vermont. And I just want to read the demands of the protests that we're organizing for on December 2. First, we call for a ceasefire, an immediate ceasefire. We call for a stop to Israel's genocidal war. We call for an end to Israel's siege of Gaza, the occupation of the West Bank, and the apartheid system. We want immediate unrestricted humanitarian aid to all Palestinians. We want all Palestinian prisoners and hostages freed. And we want them humanized. If you watch the television news, they give the stories, the names, the teddy bears. They humanize the Israeli hostages. They barely give a name of a single released Palestinian prisoner and hostage. Why? That shows the deep racism baked into the mainstream media, the corporate media of this country, which is lockstep with the state of Israel against Palestinian liberation. So we call for the immediate release of all the Palestinian prisoners and hostages. We defend Palestinian civil rights and civil rights and organizing rights of Palestine solidarity activists. We demand an immediate end to all US aid to the state of Israel. We call for the enforcement of boycott, divestment, and sanctions against every corporation involved in the state of Israel. And we support Palestinians' right to self-determination, including their right to return to their stolen homes and stolen land. And we are for a free Palestine with equal rights for all. Jews, Arabs, Palestinians, everyone, that's what is needed to solve the crisis in Palestine. That's what's needed actually in the United States as well, where we have de facto liberties and freedoms, but de facto racism, de facto inequality, de facto second-class citizenship for undocumented migrants. What is needed in Palestine is needed right here in the United States. So next up, I have Crystal from UVM. Hi, everyone. Yeah, I'm a student at UVM, and I wanted to say three quick things. So first, I wanted to go back to that letter that Suresh sent out. Something that caught my eye is the line, we are not aware of any specific threat to the UVM community. So if I were a Muslim or a Palestinian or Arab student at UVM, and there had just been three Palestinians shot and killed, and my school's president said, we are not aware of any threat to the community, the message I would take away from that is that I am not a part of that community, and I would not feel welcome there. At the end of that message, what's that? I like the spirit. So what I see at the end of that letter is we encourage all to stay tuned to local news and announcement from law enforcement for updates. Now, I haven't seen shit from law enforcement, but I saw things from Wafiq and other Palestinian organizers hours after it happened, all through today. That's where all my information came from. So they're telling you to listen to people that they're positing are the best and most authoritative on the subject, but they haven't said, Jack, shit. Absolutely not. So we're going to listen to the Palestinians, to the Arabs in our community that are actually saying what's going on. Now, what I want to say about point number two, I'm from UVM. We just had Helen, a teacher at UVM. We had S.J.P., which includes students from UVM. How many other UVM students are here? I saw some people, whoa, shout out. I saw some people from Middlebury. How many Middlebury students? I'm sure there's other colleges. I don't know them, but shout out to you all too. But the point I'm trying to make here, I think Champlain College, hell yeah. SUNY, shout out, all the way from New York, period. So what I want to say is that to me sounds like the UVM community to me. That sounds like the community to me. And this community is saying that we stand in solidarity with Palestine. Woo. Woo. Now I want to say one final thing. So we've been hearing about this death toll in Gaza. I've heard 10,000. I've heard 17,000. What I want to say is that today, if that's 17,000, that number is 17,003. Because the three people that were shot, they didn't just get caught in some random conflict. Oh. Well, that does, you get the point I'm trying to make, y'all. Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that these shootings were an isolated incident. They didn't happen because of some random disagreement. I'm already seeing these things on Twitter. This happened, and I'm saying what's already been said, but it bears repeating. These shootings had happened because of the rhetoric that is going on in this town, in this country. Right now. So it's not just enough to say, oh, that's on the other side of the world. I don't want to get involved. That's not my fight. One, it's our fight because we're sending the money there for first things. But number two, that's our fight because there are Palestinians here. There are Palestinians. There are Arabs who, and you know they're not distinguishing between anyone else. They're saying all those Arabs, oh, they got to go. There are 4,000 Muslims here in Burlington alone. And all of them feel unsafe right now. So we stand with them. And that means opposing Israel, opposing Zionism, and opposing sending another penny to the genocidal regime of Israel. Thank you. Martin Luther King said during the Vietnam War, he said during the Vietnam War, the bombs dropped abroad explode at home. Let me just repeat that. The bombs dropped abroad explode at home. What was he talking about? He was talking about all the money sent to kill, maim, and destroy the people of Vietnam, being taken away from what we need here at home. Better jobs, better education, more civil rights, civil liberties, better living conditions for everybody. But he also meant it in a different way that any war abroad entails a war at home, a war on dissent, a war on the right of resistance domestically, an attack on the right to organize, freedom of speech. Think about it directly, concretely, the war that the US is supporting in Israel led to the cancellation of Muhammad El-Kurd here at UVM. The bombs dropped abroad explode at home. I want to just talk about the bombs they're dropping. The US has given 2,000-pound bombs to the state of Israel that have been dropped on the cities of Gaza, on the hospitals, on the schools, on the mosques, on the churches. All of northern Gaza has been laid to waste by 2,000-pound bombs from the United States, paid for with our tax dollars. The US didn't even dare to use those bombs in Iraq on cities because they were afraid of the massacre that it would entail. But the US has given the green light to Israel to drop 2,000-pound bombs on the cities of Gaza. Shame on the Biden administration. Shame on the Democratic Party that is lockstep behind this. It is a war crime that is being carried out with guns, bombs, warheads, planes, missiles, paid for by our tax dollars, and given to the state of Israel. We say no to that. We say, not another nickel, not another dime. No more money for Israel's crimes. Not another nickel, not another dime. No more money for Israel's crimes. Not another nickel, not another dime. No more money for Israel's crimes. Yes. Next, we have Mal from UVM as a grad student. My union siblings are here tonight. A lot of labor silence. You need to organize your workplaces. You need to be in conversation with your colleagues. This is a labor issue. All issues of solidarity and liberation are labor issues. If you are a professor, talk to your students. If you are a tenured professor, fucking talk to your students. Talk to your administration. Time to stand up then. Now is the time for all of us to stand up together. We can acknowledge the very real threat to livelihood that keeps people silent and complacent. We should not work for Citibank. Citibank should not exist. UVM receives a lot of funding from the Department of Defense. It pales in comparison to most public land grabbing universities, but we should be looking at where that money goes because this does have something to do with us. We put our labor into the institution and the institution puts it into the fucking war machine. So organize your fucking workplaces. I think what Mal said is extremely important because Mal is part of a network that's just starting in the state of Vermont called Labor for Palestine. This is extremely important in the state of Vermont that we get our unions to come out for Palestine. The Palestinian trade union movement has issued an international call for all unions to side with Palestine, to refuse to deliver war material to the Israeli war machine, to obstruct the ports and the airports to stop this genocidal war machine from being supplied with US bombs, European bombs, bombs from wherever in the world. And you know what? Dock workers have responded on the west coast of this country. Workers in Barcelona have voted not to ship arms to Israel. We need the unions of this state to take a principled stand with the oppressed. Whenever anybody's oppressed, the trade union movement has always taught us that an injury to one is an injury to all. And you know what? The biggest injured party in the world are Palestinians. So the trade unions of this state must take a stand with Palestinians, must pass a resolution calling for a ceasefire and an end to the US aid for Israel. So if you're in a union, talk to Mal, talk to Helen Scott who are initiating this call for labor for Palestine, because it's time for the labor movement in this state and this whole country to wake up and get on the right side of history, which is the side of Palestinian liberation. Next, we have Alex from the Party for Socialism and Liberation. We're here today because the actions of our government have a ripple effect. Tassin, Ali Ahmad, Kenan, Abdel Hamid, and Hisham Arutani were just visiting home for the holidays like normal college students when they were targeted for wearing a kafia and speaking Arabic. They were shot in the back. Even here in liberal utopia, Burlington, Vermont, these young people weren't safe from hate. Make no mistake, the hatred in Islamophobia gripping our city and our country comes from the top down. From a president who denies the death toll during a genocide, from a government who doesn't see Palestinian life as valuable, from officials who vocally support genocide and ethnic cleansing, from university administrators who silence Muslim and Arab voices and accuse them of being anti-Semitic and terrorist sympathizers, from the media who continually dehumanize Muslims, Israelis are killed and Palestinians die. From the police who threatened us with arrests on Friday for legal protests who are trained by the Israeli occupation force who use their newfound skills to brutalize black and brown Americans at home. From our own politicians right here in Burlington who refuse to demand a ceasefire, looking at you Bernie Sanders. These reckless and irresponsible words and actions by those in positions of power have led to this violence. Blood is on their hands. Muslim and Arab people should not have to fear for their safety here or anywhere. What kind of freedom is it to worry about wearing a scarf and speaking Arabic or wearing a hijab? What kind of freedom is it to be doxxed or fired from your job threatened by your university for speaking up for victims of genocide? We must demand better from our elected officials. We must condemn bigotry wherever we see it from Gaza to Burlington. Our Muslim and Arab brothers and sisters deserve to feel safe. We cannot allow hate to win. We cannot allow a climate to exist where people are targeted for what language they speak, for what articles of clothing they wear. We cannot allow the narrative to be twisted. We're calling for peace and freedom gets you accused of bigotry and malice. We must demand justice for Tahseen Kenan and Hashem. We must demand our leaders stand up against bigotry and to protect human life everywhere. We just have two more speakers and then a few wrap up points. So next we have another speaker. Hi, so I'm coming to speak today because in addition to speak about the university, because in addition to its public silence and public failure to speak in support of Palestinian students, behind the scenes our fucking university has been labeling Palestinian activists and those acting solidarity terrorists. I received an email from the Dean of Students because I'm a member of a group that put on an event called Community Fest. And so we invited Vermonters for Justice and Policy on October 8th, I believe. And five days later we get an email from David Nestor who is the Dean of Students. In this email, David talks about vague security concerns and safety concerns for the people, for university students. When we ask, and he asks us to meet, when, yeah. And so when I ask why, what is this dangerous threat? He replied to me that there are ongoing tensions and he is concerned about potential violence. And the thing he fucking cites is the presence of two quote unquote older men at a university event at an event that, mind you, was not held on fucking campus. It was held off campus by university students. And he said, and he claimed that the presence of the presence of people like Wafik and the presence of other members of Vermonters for Justice and Palestine were threatening to students. Yeah, people talking about end to apartheid, people talking about peace. How is that a threat to students? The threat, and I will tell you, there is no fucking threat. The threat comes, the threat comes from Matt Vogel and Hillel calling for the police to surveil Palestinian students. The threat comes, the threat fucking comes from our university, from a racist fucking university who offers no support to our Palestinian comrades, to our Palestinian comrades and friends who feel unsafe walking outside. Well, our university does nothing. Shame on you, Suresh. Shame on this administration. Shame on this university. Thanks so much. So we just have Wafik to wrap up the event, but I just wanna underline a couple of things and then we'll leave the mic to Wafik. First, anybody when they came here this evening, please leave in groups of people. Don't wander off on your own. If you came on your own and you need somebody to go with you to your car or to your home, come to the front and we'll work that out. We are trying to ensure the safety of all of us assembled. So that's number one. The second thing is December 2nd. I wanna underscore how important it is after a racist hate crime that we are not intimidated, that we mobilize in larger numbers than tonight, that all of us go home and tell their friends, their coworkers, the people in their neighborhoods, the people in their towns, in their communities turn out because we have to send a message to the whole world that Vermont stands against hatred, that Vermont stands against anti-Arab racism, that Vermont stands for Palestinian liberation. This was brought home to me this morning when I saw a tweet from Mariam Bargouti. And I don't know if people have been following her on Twitter, but if you haven't, follow her. Every 10 minutes she gives a report from Gaza, from the West Bank, from Inside Israel about what conditions are like for Palestinians. And I woke up this Mariam Bargouti. I woke up this morning to see a tweet from her about my city, about my state, and about a near murder of three Palestinian members of our community. And I couldn't believe my eyes that what I had been reading for the last six weeks from her about Gaza, West Bank, and Israel for Palestinians and their experiencing was now brought home to my hometown. And I want to show Mariam Bargouti and all the brave sisters, brothers, and siblings who are fighting a heroic struggle to free their country that Vermont stands with them. So everybody must redouble our efforts to mobilize for December 2nd. Let's show this country, let's show this state, let's show this world that Vermont is here for the fight, for the Palestinian resistance, for the Palestinian liberation struggle. Next, we've got Wabik Bauer to conclude this evening. I hear you. While she's feeling fear, there is big powers around us weaponizing fear, weaponizing fear and using it against my community, especially, Muslims and Arabs and Palestinians. When they talk about safety and security in UVM and around campuses, they are missing major point, that the safety of the Palestinian Arab Muslim students is not counted. For that I want to leave you with thought that the Muslim community especially and the Arab community, they have feeling a lot of fear. That's why if you look left and right, you don't see a lot of them, not because they don't exist. But they are scared and have been attacked by the system we are living under here. And for that, I want you to reach out. They tell us through education, so how many educators are among you? How many teachers? All right. Please get in hold with Education Justice Coalition and get involved and learn how to teach Palestine in your school because we need that. Along teach Palestine we have to teach black and brown. We have to teach indigenous people history and maybe, maybe, maybe the majority of us can learn and can break this cycle of violence they brought in our head in this system. For that, in a cold night, I want to tell you something personal. I don't feel safe more than in this place. As if I want to be rallying all the time so for my selfishness and personal feeling to feel safe. But for that, I will leave you with a lot of respect, a lot of love from the Palestinian people everywhere. They hear about you and they need you more than ever. And we have to change the idea of what's Palestine and what's liberation and what's the freedom and what's self-determination. Please don't leave us alone. Please don't leave us alone now. We need you more than ever. Thank you. Thank you Wafiq. So just remember before we disperse, don't walk on your own. Walk away in groups and look out for your brothers, sisters, and siblings right next to you. And if you need help, Michelle will help people get to their cars and homes. But before we disperse, let's end with a chant. Free, free Palestine. Free, free Palestine. Long live Palestine. Long live Palestine. Free, free Palestine. Free, free Palestine. Long live Palestine. Long live Palestine. Free, free Palestine. Free, free Palestine. Long live Palestine. Long live. Free, free Palestine. Free, free Palestine. Long live Palestine. Long live Palestine. All right, remember December 2nd. I will see you there at 1 PM. Bring all your friends.