A student from the University of Vermont made an unintentional blunder at a Burlington City Council meeting on Monday, when she said she was “appalled” that people were using “other genocides to describe this one”, referring to the war in Gaza.
The student, identified as Josefina Leit, was speaking against a petition that called for the city to end its support for Israel’s “apartheid regime, settler colonialism, and military occupation”. The petition, initiated by a group called Apartheid-Free Burlington, aimed to put the issue on the ballot for the upcoming Town Meeting Day in March.
Leit, who said she was a first-year student at the University of Vermont, began her speech by acknowledging the “pain and sorrow on both sides of the war”. She then criticized the petition as “disingenuous”, arguing that the city council should focus on local matters instead of getting involved in a distant conflict.
Leit continued: “And I would like to use the rest of my time to say how appalled I am that people are bringing up the Holocaust. Do not use other genocides to describe this one.”
Her remark was met with laughter and disbelief from the audience, as well as from herself, as she realized what she had said. She quickly corrected herself, saying “this conflict”, but the damage was done.
Her verbal slip went viral on social media, with some users mocking her for her ignorance and insensitivity, while others defended her as a victim of a Freudian slip. Some also pointed out the irony of her statement, given that the petition she opposed was accusing Israel of committing genocide against the Palestinians.
The city council eventually voted 7-5 to block the petition from appearing on the ballot, with the majority of the Democratic councilors siding against it. The councilors cited legal and procedural concerns, as well as the potential divisiveness of the issue, as reasons for their decision.
The conflict in Gaza has been escalating since December, when Israel launched a series of airstrikes and ground operations in response to rocket attacks from Hamas, the militant group that controls the enclave. The violence has claimed the lives of hundreds of Palestinians and dozens of Israelis, and has sparked protests and condemnations around the world.
