When the conflict began in Gaza following the October 7 attack, the family of Hisham Awartani decided he should remain in the US, where he’s a student at Brown University, rather than return home for the holidays to Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, NPR reports.

“My husband didn’t want Hisham to come back for Christmas,” says Awartani’s mother Elizabeth Price. “He thought our son would be safer [in the US] than in Palestine.”

On Saturday, Awartani, 20, was one of three men of Palestinian descent shot while visiting family in Burlington, Vermont. According to Price, her son was severely injured.

Read the full story here.

Hisham Awartani with his father, Ali Awartani, and mother, Elizabeth Price. On Saturday, Awartani was one of three men of Palestinian descent shot in Burlington, Vermont. — Elizabeth Price
Hisham Awartani with his father, Ali Awartani, and mother, Elizabeth Price. On Saturday, Awartani was one of three men of Palestinian descent shot in Burlington, Vermont. — Elizabeth Price

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