Olivia Reingold@Olivia_Reingold
The most progressive state in the country is now "hostile territory" for Jews.
The Jews I interviewed for this story told me they moved to Vermont because of its inclusive, anything goes attitude. Then October 7th came.
“It’s like all these liberal hippies want to kill me,” said Denise Gebroe, a Jew whose fitness studio was recently targeted with anti-Israel graffiti.
Nearly every Jewish Vermonter I spoke with said they'd bought weapons, installed security cameras, or even adopted guard dogs over the past few years. A man told me that while his wife gave birth at a local hospital it had occurred to him: What if they realize I'm Jewish—will they treat us differently?
There are two main reasons for why Vermont:
1: Vermont is ground zero for the "Apartheid-Free Communities" movement.
This is the most impressive and organized BDS campaign I've encountered yet in my reporting—and hardly anyone knows about it. Anti-Israel organizers are targeting towns with as few as 800 people to get them enraged over Israel's "genocide" and "apartheid regime." The end goal is to push the town into passing an "apartheid-free" pledge. The boilerplate language comes from Quaker leaders and is just four sentences:
WE AFFIRM our commitment to freedom, justice, and equality for the Palestinian people and all people;
WE OPPOSE all forms of racism, bigotry, discrimination, and oppression; and
WE DECLARE ourselves an apartheid-free community and to that end,
WE PLEDGE to join others in working to end all support to Israel's apartheid regime, settler colonialism, and military occupation.
12 towns have passed these pledges so far—10 are in Vermont.
On paper, the pledge does almost nothing. It's non-binding and contains exactly zero policies. The entire idea—according to public and internal materials I reviewed—is to turn Vermonters against the Jewish state. Activists are willing to play a long-game here. They're willing to go town by town, county by county, state by state, until it's BDS as far as the eye can see.
2. Look at who's in Congress: two out of Vermont's 3 congressional delegates are Jews critical of Israel. And Bernie Sanders is not just any politician—he is a moral compass for many in the state. So when he accuses Israel of "genocide," many in the state run with that.
“People want someone to look up to, and Bernie is that person for a lot of Vermonters," said Rachel Felman, who co-founded pro-Israel group Shalom Alliance.
She added that Vermont was "fertile ground to be convinced that Jews are the oppressors" because it “takes seriously the concepts of institutionalized racism."
The groups behind the campaign to spread these "anti-apartheid" pledges may claim their project is not antisemitic, but the Jews I spoke to say the impact is clear: they no longer feel safe or welcome in their state.
Mark Treinkman, a Jewish father near Newfane, told me he thinks about moving to Israel everyday.
"The irony is that they hate Israel but they’re leaving us with exactly one option: Move to Israel."
He’s grown only more worried watching the pledges spread throughout Vermont.
“People in Germany one day didn’t wake up and ship people to gas chambers. It started with boycotts in academia, in the arts,” he said. “The future is bleak.”
