Brown President Suddenly Ends Speech Honoring Shot Palestinian Student

At a Monday night vigil honoring a Palestinian student shot in Vermont—in what police said is being investigated as a possible hate crime—Brown University’s president suddenly ended her speech amid a pro-Palestinian student protest.

Hisham Awartani, a Brown University student, and two other Palestinian college students—Kinnan Abdalhamid and Tahseen Ali Ahmad—were shot Saturday in Burlington, Vermont. All three are in stable condition, though police have described Awartani’s injuries as the most severe. Burlington police on Sunday arrested a suspect, Jason Eaton, who pleaded not guilty to three charges of attempted murder.

During Monday’s vigil, described as a “vigil for peace and healing,” Brown President Christina Paxson condemned the violence but suddenly ended her speech after she was interrupted by students calling for the university to divest its endowment from companies affiliated with Israel.

“We can’t disentangle what happened to Hisham from the broader events in Israel and Palestine that sadly we have been dealing with for decades. Sadly, we can’t control what happens across the world and country. We are powerless to do everything we’d like to do,” Paxson said before students began loudly chanting “Brown divest.”

Newsweek reached out to the Brown University Office of the President via email for comment.

“Let me tell you how I was going to end this, which was I was going to say that at a faculty meeting last month, I said that “every student, faculty and staff member should be able to proudly wear a Star of David or don a keffiyeh on the Brown campus, or to cover their head with a hijab or yarmulke” and that Brown is a strong and loving community,” Paxson added before more chants from students.

Paxson left shortly after and, later Monday evening, her office posted the full speech online.

According to The Brown Daily Herald, protests for divestment resumed after the vigil, with hundreds remaining outside calling for divestment and chanting “free Palestine.”

The shooting came amid protests around the globe on both sides as a result of the Israel-Hamas war, with many calling for a lasting cease-fire. Authorities in the U.S. have been on high alert for violence driven by Islamophobic or antisemitism, with Muslim and Jewish groups reporting a rise in hateful rhetoric.

Hamas led the deadliest Palestinian attack on Israel in history on October 7. Israel subsequently launched its heaviest airstrikes against Gaza. As of Tuesday, at least 1,200 people have been killed in Israel, the Associated Press reported, citing the Israeli government. More than 13,300 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to the Gaza Health’ Ministry, the AP said.

Saturday’s shooting has sparked more protests and public outcry as authorities said it might have been a hate crime, adding that two of the men were wearing the black-and-white Palestinian keffiyeh scarves when the shooting occurred.

History professor Beshara Doumani, who visited Awartani in Burlington with Vice President for Campus Life Eric Estes, read a message from Awartani to the crowd at the vigil, echoing the outcry for Palestinian people amid the conflict, according to The Brown Daily Herald.

“It’s important to recognize that this is part of the larger story. This hideous crime did not happen in a vacuum,” Doumani recited. “As much as I appreciate and love every single one of you here today, I am but one casualty in this much wider conflict.

“Had I been shot in the West Bank, where I grew up, the medical services that saved my life here would likely have been withheld by the Israeli army,” Doumani continued, met by cheers and applause from attendees. “The soldier who shot me would go home and never be convicted. I understand that the pain is so much more real and immediate because many of you know me, but any attack like this is horrific, be it here or in Palestine.”