NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) – High school students across New York City walked out of school on Friday to demand an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and for the U.S. government to stop funding the Israeli military.
The rally had the usual chants heard at pro-Palestinian events, but this time, the voices were younger. Standing on the steps of the Department of Education headquarters in Lower Manhattan, students held signs reading slogans like “How many more babies have to die?” and “Free all Palestinian political prisoners.”
Alexia, a sophomore at Stuyvesant High School, explained the purpose of the protest and her reason for walking out. “It’s essentially just bringing awareness to what’s going on in Palestine right now,” she told 1010 WINS.
Despite their intentions, the students face potential repercussions. According to Alexia, the principal warned the students not to attend the walkout or face disciplinary punishment for leaving school.
“The fact that we’re not allowed to miss a few minutes essentially of our last period of school to speak up about something as important as this, that’s just mind-boggling,” she said. “I feel like age shouldn’t be a limiting factor when it comes to making a change. It’s important to stand up for what you believe is right, whether other people think that you’re too young or quote-unquote too immature.”
DOE Chancellor David Banks on Thursday said, “I’m a big believer in student voice and kids standing up for the things that they believe in and they want to see addressed. I don’t think you need to have continued walkouts to do that. And I think to some degree, the students have missed their mark when you do that, if it just becomes a regular thing, and now kids are just walking out of school, just to walk out of school.”
A flier about the protest encouraged students to use a toolkit to plan their walkouts, get support, and coordinate their actions with other students. It also listed organizations such as the Palestinian Youth Movement, NYC Educators for Palestine, Teachers Unite, and the Progressive Caucus of the teachers union.
“Certainly, wherever we find that we have any of our staff who are promoting that, that is entirely against our policies,” Banks said. “And where we find that after we investigate, we will take appropriate action.”
Recent NYU graduate Melissa Boneta Sparks supported the students and said “I would say that education begins with experience and it begins with your own experience and sharing that with others.” She added, “This is indicative of how important this is to public school students. I’m very happy to see these students. I remember being in high school, very afraid to talk about what I believed in.”
Bogdan, another sophomore at Stuyvesant High School, said “It sort of gives me hope that so many people are supporting this cause and it sort of brings a feeling of unity because you see all these other people who believe in the same thing that you do.”
The protest is not the first planned action against the war in Gaza. In November, hundreds of high school students walked out of school to demand an immediate ceasefire outside the New York Public Library.