By Dr. Rafael Medoff, historian and author:
The words “Free Palestine” and “F— Israel” were painted on the windows of a wellness studio in Vermont last week, over two Israeli flags that the Jewish owner had placed there.
Mark Treinkman, a leader in Vermont’s Jewish community, pointed out that in recent months, synagogues in Vermont have received death threats, swastikas have been painted on school walls, and Jewish students have been the targets of antisemitic bullying.
Treinkman says the latest assault is “the predictable consequence of a political campaign in Vermont that demonizes Israel and pressures local communities to treat Jews and Zionists as equivalent to Nazis.” He noted that a local hate group, the Palestine Solidarity Coalition, has been promoting a campaign accusing Israel of apartheid.
“Apartheid Israel”—where the Supreme Court has an Arab member; where Arab citizens have served in the cabinet, as ambassadors, and even as Miss Israel; and where an Arab party recently was part of the governing coalition.
“Apartheid Israel”—the only country in the world that has airlifted tens of thousands of black Africans out of lands of famine and oppression, bringing them to freedom and safety.
But never mind those inconvenient facts!
“When anti-Zionist activists tell people that Jews with deep spiritual, cultural, and familial ties to Israel are ‘baby killers’ and ‘genocide supporters,’ it sends a dangerous signal that intimidation against them is understandable, deserved, or even justified,” Treinkman added.
But the bullies of the Palestine Solidarity Coalition are not the only Vermonters spreading such vicious slurs—nor are they the most influential.
That title belongs to the most powerful political leader in Vermont, U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders.
— During his 2019 presidential campaign, Sanders’s team posted a video accusing Israel of imposing “apartheid-like conditions in Palestine.” Sanders has also repeatedly called Israel’s government “racist.”
— In 2024, Sanders claimed Israel was carrying out “ethnic cleansing.”
— In 2025, Sanders wrote: “Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.”
— In recent weeks, Sanders has accused Israel of “dragging” America into war.
Did Sen. Sanders’s extremist rhetoric helped incite last week’s vandalism in Vermont? Perhaps we’ll learn the answer to that question when the vandal is apprehended.
In the meantime, one thing is clear: the anti-Israel lies that Sanders continually spreads have helped create an atmosphere of hatred. And in such an atmosphere, there’s no telling what will happen next.