猫咪社区

鈥淪olidarity is the kind of presence that costs you something.鈥� 鈥擟ole Arthur Riley, Black Liturgies

On Nov. 9, 2023, I and nine of my peers organized and participated in a sit-in at our high school鈥檚 annual Veterans Day ceremony to protest Israel鈥檚 attack on Gaza, challenge United States military and political funding of the genocide of Palestinians, and show our solidarity with the Palestinian cause. We filled rows of our gym wearing white shirts that read 鈥淪top Israel, Stop Genocide鈥� and held signs reading 鈥淲e Are the Resistance鈥� and 鈥淔ree Palestine鈥� during the event.聽

The aftermath of our disruption was swift and serious. We were humiliated by our administration, removed from leadership positions for not 鈥渞eflecting school values,鈥� and given referrals from our district for 鈥減rinting political propaganda.鈥� I write this story using a pseudonym to protect me and my peers from further aggression from our school鈥檚 administration. 

As I processed my 鈥減unishment,鈥� I learned that our situation wasn鈥檛 unique. In response to the constant Israeli bombings of the Gaza Strip, which, as of this writing, have killed more than 鈥攎any of whom are children鈥攕tudents in across the country have held pro-Palestine demonstrations, sit-ins, and walkouts, and called for an end to Israel鈥檚 violence. Some of these students agreed to speak with me. 

A few days before our disruption, on November 6, more than 200 students walked out of their last-period class at Potomac Falls High School in Sterling, Virginia, to show solidarity for Gaza and the Palestinian cause. They held signs painted red and green, wore traditional keffiyehs, and waved flags as a student chanted, 鈥淣ot a nickel, not a dime!鈥� into a loudspeaker. Hundreds of her peers echoed, 鈥淣o more money for Israel鈥檚 crimes!鈥澛�

After becoming the first country to as a state, the U.S. has provided Israel with , which President Biden refers to as his nation鈥檚 鈥溾�� Apart from its monetary role, the U.S. also politically supports Israel. of the U.S.鈥檚 vetoes at the United Nations have been in support of Israel.聽

鈥淎s a Pakistani, whose grandparents suffered under British occupation, I feel I must support any and every Indigenous LandBack movement and oppose any form of modern-day colonization,鈥� says Mohsin Ali, referring to the that Indigenous North Americans have adopted as a demand for restitution. Ali is a senior at Potomac Falls High School who attended and helped organize the November 6 walkout.聽

鈥淚 hope to reiterate what many others are saying. This is not a religious conflict. This is not a war. This is a genocide, ethnic cleansing,鈥� says Ohona Ahmed, a high school senior and coordinator of a November 6 pro-Palestine walkout held at Parkview High School, which is just 10 minutes from Potomac Falls. Students at the two schools joined other Loudoun County Public School (LCPS)聽students in Virginia in a district-wide walkout.聽

鈥淲e are trying to invoke a county-wide acknowledgment,鈥� Ahmed explains. 鈥淚f we get the superintendent and principals of numerous schools to send mass emails about the pro-Palestinian walkouts happening throughout Loudoun County, we as students could reflect our stance and support to students, parents, teachers, and staff.鈥�

鈥淭he United States uses our taxpayer money to fund the genocide of Palestinians in a militaristic way. Israel is a U.S.鈥揵acked occupation state, and we refuse to support and celebrate the means for it,鈥� says Andi Stone, a senior and participant in the sit-in at my school, who has also chosen to use a pseudonym.聽

The U.S. maintains with Israel. As the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, an agency of the State Department, states, 鈥淚srael is a great partner to the United States, and Israel has no greater friend than the United States. The unbreakable bond between our two countries has never been stronger.鈥� In a , when asked about a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, President Biden replied, 鈥淣one. No possibility.鈥澛�

鈥淲e didn鈥檛 feel that the U.S. military鈥檚 crimes against the Palestinians and numerous others in the Global South deserved to be honored [on Veterans Day],鈥� says Lauren Jenkins, another student at my high school who participated in the actions and who has chosen to use a pseudonym. 鈥淎nd we certainly didn鈥檛 feel very patriotic knowing we were honoring the 鈥榝allen soldiers鈥� but not saying a word about the thousands of fallen children who were killed in the name of this very empire,鈥� she adds, connecting U.S. militarism to Israeli militarism.

While the recent escalations are sparking a new wave of support for Palestine, especially from younger Americans, that support has also drawn intense backlash. 鈥淚t only took five minutes before we were told to leave the Veterans Day ceremony and that we were being 鈥榙isrespectful.鈥� Along with the sit-in we put up infographics around the school, which [were] also taken down by the administration,鈥� Jenkins says.聽

Our administration has refused to tell us what exactly we are being cited for, other than violating school values and promoting propaganda. When we asked which parts of our fact-checked statements were 鈥減ropaganda鈥� and how an issue based on simple human rights could be 鈥減olitical,鈥� administrators told us they didn鈥檛 want to 鈥済et into the semantics.鈥� 

We are sure that the retaliations are an intimidation tactic to prevent further action on our campus. After we collectively refused to sign the citation sheet, our school principal told us, 鈥淭his is already in your permanent record鈥濃�攁nd that there was nothing we could do to get it expunged. As seniors applying to colleges, it appeared that the marks on our records were meant to jeopardize our futures, since the only violation school officials could cite us for in the student handbook was our use of a printer, which says a lot about the lengths they were willing to go just to tarnish our records. A printer.

In Virginia, students who participated in the LCPS walkout at several schools had to cancel their actions after posters were torn down and pro-Israel demonstrations were organized on the same day. 鈥淭here was a pro-Israel walkout page that stole my co-organizer鈥檚 artwork and planned to counter our walkout at the same time,鈥� says Ali. His principal reportedly pulled him out of class several times to make sure the walkout wasn鈥檛 鈥渉ateful.鈥� 鈥淥ur chant 鈥楩rom the river to the sea, Palestine will be free鈥� was blacklisted, and our walkout was threatened to be shut down if the chant was used,鈥� he reports.

Schools are also cracking down on what students can discuss inside the classroom. Ali says, 鈥淚 try to discuss it as much as possible in class, but recently Loudoun County Public Schools have banned a lot of pro-Palestine slogans and symbols, so there are definitely some restrictions from the admin.鈥�

Despite attempts to censor and intimidate young organizers at U.S. high schools, students, including myself, are determined to organize against the occupation from the 鈥淏elly of the Beast,鈥� to quote Che Guevara. 

The biggest tool for young Americans is social media, which has been vital not only in educating, but in circulating news from inside Gaza into the heart of the U.S. empire. 鈥淒ue to our access to social media, if one person shares an informational post, hundreds of their friends and mutuals can see it,鈥� Ahmed says. 

鈥淚 believe that access to social media and unbiased raw facts and accounts have helped in realizing how messed up the political and economic systems in the U.S. are,鈥� Ali adds. 

Others are taking educational approaches on their campuses. Serene Issa, a Palestinian American high school senior from Heb, Texas, says, 鈥淚鈥檓 the co-president of the Arabic club, and we made a presentation [about] Palestine to inform those who are not informed.鈥�

From exhibiting solidarity through pins, shirts, and flags鈥攚hich school administrators have less control over鈥攖o finding alternate spaces where they can express support for the Palestinian cause, students are invested in finding ways to counter school restrictions. 鈥淚 think 鈥榮ticking it to the man鈥� is often a good approach,鈥� Ali says. 鈥淚n my school district some have attended school board meetings and superintendent meetings to voice our concerns and highlight the hypocrisy of the restrictions placed on students.鈥�

Others are hoping to join groups like and when they go to college, or to find local advocacy groups that have become more active. 鈥淚n our community, there鈥檚 an active group 鈥� that鈥檚 run by some of the Muslim population of our city who have been very helpful to the community in providing a space to voice support and for action,鈥� Stone says.聽

Ali hopes to continue his work for Palestine solidarity in higher education, saying, 鈥淚 would likely join some movement in college that focuses on dismantling empire and supports decolonization.鈥� 

While聽it is impossible to ignore the censorship of the Palestinian cause that exists across the Western hemisphere, this isn鈥檛 something that is going to effectively silence organizers. 鈥淭here is some fear that we鈥檒l be negatively impacted on our path to college but 鈥� what鈥檚 lost credibility in academia when lives are at stake?鈥� Stone asks.聽