BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – It’s been almost six months since the start of the war in Gaza. Thousands of miles away in Vermont, some Jewish students at the University of Vermont say they experience anti-Semitism daily on campus, while Muslim students says the war has brought new solidarity.
“On October 7, I lost a friend and I assumed that people would be understanding and people would be in solidarity with us. And then it wound up being the opposite,” said Halle Sisenwine, a UVM senior: During a vigil last October, she says passersby yelled expletives at her. “Ever since then, I’ve experienced some form of anti-Semitism or Israel hate at least once a day.”
A recent Harvard CAPS-Harris poll found that American adults ages 18-24 were split on whether they stand with Israel or Hamas and that two-thirds of that age group viewed Jews as an oppressive class.
“I think that a lot of people had anti-Semitic undertones and now they have a reason to publicly share them,” Sisenwine said. She points to a swastika she saw drawn in the snow on campus and posters of hostages that were torn down and had anti-Israel graffiti. “What I’ve continued to hear is that it’s free speech, and unless it turns into action, then there’s nothing the university can do about that.”
Sisenwine says she thinks people have a right to critique the Israeli government but that the overall sentiment surrounding the war — and the public actions around it — have made her feel isolated at school. She turns to her Jewish friends at Hillel for comfort.
At UVM’s Interfaith Center, Ali Mahmood, a grad student who is Muslim, says that the war has brought his community closer together. As frightening as has been to witness the war and shooting of three Palestinian students in Burlington last November, he says UVM and its students have shown support for Muslim, Middle Eastern, and North African students. “Arab students that were not seen before are getting now that opportunity to come together,” Mahmood said.
Mahmood, in addition to completing his graduate studies, is the program coordinator at UVM’s Interfaith Center. While fasting for Ramadan, he’s creating spaces for a diverse array of students to meet with faculty leadership and each other. “Once you understand what other people are facing, what fear they have, then only you can build a bridge to create that conversation,” Mahmood said.
Sisenwine says she wants to have these conversations like the ones Mahmood described, but when they start, she feels those who oppose her are often dismissive and unwilling to listen.
The federal government investigated anti-Semitism at UVM just last year and found that the administration had mishandled multiple allegations. Sisenwine says because of this, UVM is handling the situation better than other colleges but she still wants the administration to speak out more against anti-Semitism.
UVM says civil discourse is an integral component of their campus community and the university does not tolerate hate or hate speech in any form.