When Aboud Ashhab learned early Sunday morning during a phone call from his mom that his close friend, Hisham Awartani, had been shot the evening before in Burlington, Vt., he broke down in tears, fearing the worst. The thought of losing him was too much to bear.
Growing up under Israeli occupation in the West Bank, Ashhab went to the Ramallah Friends School with Awartani, Tahseen Ali Ahmad, and Kinnan Abdalhamid, lifelong friends who excelled academically. Now attending college in the United States, the three friends reunited over Thanksgiving weekend and were taking a walk when a gunman stepped out of the dark and shot them without a word, officials said.
The Palestinian students were speaking in a mix of Arabic and English before the shooting, which authorities are investigating as a potential hate crime. Two were wearing keffiyehs, traditional Palestinian scarves. Awartani was shot in the spine and is recovering at the University of Vermont Medical Center. His mother, Elizabeth Price, said he is paralyzed from the mid-chest down. Doctors have said he may never walk again.
“I thank God that Kinnan, Tahseen, and Hisham are all safe,” said Ashhab, 20, who now studies at Brown University in Providence, R.I., with Awartani. “And I’m also scared. We’re not really safe here anymore — no safer than we are back in Palestine.”
At college, Ashhab and Awartani’s friendship has grown stronger, bound by their ties to home. By sophomore year, the two were rooming together, and Awartani decorated their dorm with an expansive collection of national flags and regularly invited people over to enjoy his homemade Palestinian and Middle Eastern dishes.
As he worries about his friend, he worries about his own safety, too. His parents have warned him not to speak Arabic in public, not to wear a keffiyeh, not to share that he is Palestinian.
“I don’t see myself staying in America,” he said.
It was once the place where families sent their children, believing they would get a “better and safer education,” Ashhab said. But that faith has been shattered, he said.
“We’re all feeling at danger. The entire class — we’re over 100 RFS alumni from the class of 2021 — many of us are in the [United] States, many of us are abroad,” Ashhab said. “We all feel unsafe.”
Ashhab and Awartani have met with administrators at Brown to express their fears over the safety of Arab and Palestinian students on campus. But the pair felt as though their concerns were dismissed, Ashhab said.
A few hours after he heard what had happened, Ashhab spoke with Awartani on the phone. He was tired and in tremendous pain, but still seemed strong, Ashhab said.
“He was his full 100 percent self,” he said.
At a vigil held at Brown Monday, Beshara Doumani, a professor of Palestinian studies, read aloud a message that Awartani had sent him, in which he asked people not to focus on him as “an individual, but rather as a proud member of a people being oppressed.”
In the audience, Ashhab became emotional hearing his friend’s words. He began to cry.
“Everything that he said hit home to me,” Ashhab said. “We are Palestinian. For us, it’s who we are, it’s our flesh and blood. Palestine is our beating heart.”
The three friends were “shot for the mere crime of being Arab or Palestinian,” he added.
While he faces a long road ahead, Ashhab said Awartani’s condition has greatly improved since the shooting. He did not want to share details but said he is hopeful for his full recovery and can’t wait to see him.
“He wants you all to know that he is doing much better,” Ashhab said.
Warm and effusive, Awartani naturally draws people into his circle, Ashhab said, making quick connections through his experiences and knowledge. He referred to his friend as “one of the smartest people” he has ever met. Awartani is a mathematician, an aficionado of archeology, a polyglot with a love of languages, and a musician who plays the ney, a Middle Eastern flute.
“When you have that natural gift, as well as a big heart, I think you can easily pull people and invite them in,” Ashhab said. “He taught me patience. He taught me to appreciate more things in life.”
Awartani is also an enthusiastic cook and is known for his hospitality, he said.
“Always has his doors open to any and all,” he said.
During Ramadan their sophomore year, the two fasted and spent hours in the kitchen together making Iftar — the fast-breaking evening meal — which consisted of an array of traditional dishes from home, Ashhab said. They hosted a number of friends for the occasion.
“Because Hisham never wastes an opportunity to invite people over,” he said. “We just spent the longest time together and just cooking side by side and then serving people and then like collapsing and falling asleep.”
When they roomed together last year, they both became sick with the coronavirus. They spent a week quarantined in the dorm watching hours and hours of classic films. Throughout their binge, Awartani went “deep about the symbolism” in each movie and pointed out who the actors were, impressing Ashhab.
Since Awartani was shot, friends from high school and college have reached out to Ashhab in support. His room is brimming with gifts and cards for Awartani. He looks forward to passing them along soon.
“I’m very glad that I get to call him my friend,” he said.