Palestinian-American student Kinnan Abdalhamid said Haverford College students have been supportive of him and Palestinian sentiments after he and two friends were shot at close range in Burlington, Vermont, over Thanksgiving weekend.

Abdalhamid, who is studying biology on a pre-med track at Haverford College, received minor injuries, but the shooting paralyzed one of his friends, Hisham Awarani.

A suspect faces three counts of attempted murder, and the incident is being investigated as a hate crime.

“It is very hard to process the shooting when your psyche is all really focused on what’s happening in Gaza and Palestine,” Abdalhamid said.

Abdalhamid said college officials have also been supportive but “have failed to see the collective reasons events like this and violence towards Palestinians have happened. Rather, they see it as an individual (case).”

Born in the U.S. but raised in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Abdalhamid has no plans to hide who he is, even if what he wears and how he talks makes him a target.

“I am always going to represent Palestine, and I hope these events don’t deter other Palestinians to still be proud of their identity,” said Abdalhamid.

Find out more from Kinnan Abdalhamid about what it’s like being Palestinian in Israeli-occupied territory and in the United States at 6abc.