Palestinian college students shot in the US

No one of any religion or none should be treated like this. In the UK where about 53% of our 67m are atheist and about 46% Christian we tend to treat the remaining 1% who aren't Christian or atheists pretty well on the whole although of course discrimination against Christians, atheists, jews, muslims and others does exist and should be stopped.

We are also protected in the UK to an extent in that most of us don't have guns.

To be fair to the US, most of the gunmen don’t seem to discriminate about who they shoot. There are more guns than people in the US and unfortunately there are almost daily shootings

true when its in big crowded places like Malls super markets , schools .Not when three ME looking students wearing Kuffiyeh walking around in a quiet neighbourhood .
This is a targeted hate crime and I hope people don’t downplay it.

True. But scary when it's targeted based on clothes/language/religion.

To be fair to the US, most of the gunmen don’t seem to discriminate about who they shoot. There are more guns than people in the US and unfortunately there are almost daily shootings

Islamophobia is on the rise, how awful.

Really horrific. Remember those 3 students shot in North Carolina - recently married couple and sister and it was described as "parking dispute"
Its really horrendous and the constant media demonisation of Muslims - shows like Homeland, Bodyguard, what not, contribute to discourse being conflating Muslims (all Muslims, even "those like us") as terrorists

@feralunderclass - how awful. Prevent has done a ton of damage

I totally agree with you. If someone is capable of hating Jewish people, they can equally find a reason to hate Muslims (or any group).

Awful , hope he rots in Jail

It's a tactic to buy time. Usually at the advice of their lawyers.

"By pleading not guilty, the criminal defendant buys time. This gives his or her defense lawyer the opportunity to review the case and to assert all possible defenses. The criminal defense lawyer may explain the defendant’s rights. He or she may be able to work on motions to keep damaging evidence from being entered and to show that the prosecution does not have sufficient evidence to establish the defendant’s guilt."

I've never understood why people plead not guilty in these situations. He literally told the police he'd been waiting for them. He clearly did it 🤯 Why deny it?! Or is he trying to get away with a lesser crime than attempted murder or something?

I hope he gets sent away for as long as possible. Three people's lives changed forever over nothing.

Suspect in shooting of 3 men of Palestinian descent near the University of Vermont pleads not guilty

https://apnews.com/article/shooting-burlington-vermont-palestinian-american-students-ab836d1941e4237b3649353eaceb4092

1 of 3 Palestinian students shot in Vermont may never walk again after bullet hit his spine, his mother says

https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/27/us/palestinian-student-shooting-burlington-vermont-tuesday/index.html

Poor boy 😔

Horrendous.

Honestly, I was going to post on this yesterday to say my thoughts are with the victims and their families, and how I still can't get over the fact someone stabbed a six year old (!) multiple times in a hate crime. Then I saw the comment by Tigerteal which seemed to me to imply antisemitism is made too big a deal out of and decided against it out of fear of this thread also being derailed and ending up being some kind of argument about who is suffering more, Jews or Muslims. I've always been of the opinion that if someone is after the Jews now, chances are they will be after Muslims next and vice versa.

My thoughts are, of course, with the victims and their families, it's absolutely horrific that this happened. I hope they all make a full recovery and are able (/willing) to continue their studies.

It's not lack of interest necessarily. It's obviously an awful thing that's happened and I really hope all three will be ok and the perpetrator is brought to justice. Just not sure what else there is to say.

This.

Imagine. He spotted them walking down the road and got his gun, stepped off his porch and shot all three of them! It's absolutely unbelievable.

I hope all three recover well, especially Hisham Awartani who appears to be badly injured.

The propaganda is very subtle. And idiots fall for it, even if they aren't very right wing. People are on the whole easily led. You only need to look at brexit.
Anyway thanks for posting this op. Its utterly deplorable. All we hear about is antisemitism and how scared Jewish people feel now. It seems they aren't alone.

Leading to awful atrocities against Muslims/Arabs

@Desertrose2023 Sorry I really don't want to derail your thread but couldn't resist posting the links as I've always been fascinated by Hollywood propaganda, sometimes in such subtle tones one wouldn't notice without focus!

It has set such a toxic landscape, not only in the US but also across Europe, India, Myanmar - lots of anti Muslim/ anti Arab sentiments openly expressed by people and right wing governments.

It’s happening a lot. And increasingly if you’re seen wearing a keffiyeh you’re fair game.

our local mosques have issued guidelines to be safe.

It is frightening especially when you have children who are visibly Muslim. My dc have had threats and university property has been destroyed in the multi faith rooms, but only the Islamic symbol, a small pointer showing the way to face for prayer. And it was repeatedly vandalised so it was clearly targeted. All other faith symbols untouched.

Hollywood’s Relentless Discriminatory Depictions of Arab Characters

https://thedailyq.org/10468/magazine/hollywoods-relentlessly-discriminatory-depictions-of-arab-characters/

The question we should ask ourselves in this context is, despite Hollywood’s seemingly unlimited resource pool and the West’s ethnically diverse population, why do these representations exist and how did they come to be in the first place?