How Many Seattle Schools High School Students Will Walk Out Tomorrow?
Update 2:
Footage from the West Seattle blog on the West Seattle HS walkout which they number at 50.
The comments are equal between "good for the kids speaking out" and "the kids are being led astray by terrorists."
From KOMO-tv, they note that multiple times, kids tried to block the cameras.
The Seattle Times put the crowd at about 150. They had this which I think is a valid comment from a Garfield High student:
Leo McKenna, a 16-year-old Garfield sophomore, said he was there for a simple reason: "I decided to show up because I think that civilians dying is bad."
"I support neither Hamas nor the Israeli government,” he said. “I don't want civilians to die. That's it. I am pro-civilian."
Amen to that.
Anyone have news from their student's high school?
Update:
A statement from Seattle Schools spokeperson, Bev Redmond:
We have received several reports of Seattle Public Schools students planning to take part in a statewide, student-led walkout tomorrow. The protest is expected to be across college campuses and schools in response to the violence in Israel and Gaza.
SPS respects the rights of students to express their views in a peaceful manner, including assembly and nonviolent protest.
It is important to clarify that a student-led walkout is not a school or district-sponsored event.
Families should talk with their student(s) about the potential walkout. Once students leave our campus for unsponsored events, SPS can no longer be responsible for their safety. Families seeking an excused absence may choose to submit a Civic Engagement Activity Form at least two days before their student’s planned absence. This is a districtwide policy. Details about the district policies about attendance can be found in School Board Policy 3121: Attendance Policy and Superintendent Procedure 3121 SP: Attendance.
Office of Student Civil Rights: Seattle Public Schools does not condone antisemitic or Islamophobic acts. Any student may contact our Office of Student Civil Rights to report concerns about bullying. Here is the webpage that provides information about this process and reporting forms.
End of statement
If parents are just finding out about this, it would be hard to submit that Civic Engagement Activity form. And, some students might not tell their parents what they are doing.
end of update
I am seeing notice of walkouts by high school students tomorrow to protest what Israel is doing to Gaza. The date coincides with the first day of Passover which appears to be deliberate. There appear to be different sponsors but one is a group banned in Germany for their support for terrorist organizations, including Hamas.
There are flyers from a group - King County Revolutionary Students Union - calling for a statewide walkout. It includes at the bottom - "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!" This is considered by some an incendiary phrase against Jews.
So far students in the Seattle School district ( West Seattle HS, Garfield HS) , Olympia SD, Evergreen SD, Issaquah SD and Sammamish SD are pledging to walk out. Seattle students are encourage to rally at Cal Anderson park on Capitol Hill. Students are being encouraged to wear a kuffiyeh or colors of the Palestinian flag all week.
I have messaged the district to ask for comment.
What have you heard?
Comments
Admin aren't your friends
Hide your identities
Don't engage with Zionists
Be disruptive
Lets call it what it is. It isn't because of "what Israel is doing to Gaza". It is Jew hatred. Look at Columbia and other examples.
This is an anti-war protest, which is not so different from the many we have seen since the 1960s. The students walk out, attend a demonstration off site, parents receive their robocalls, and discipline if any is typically at the family level. There’s no need to make this any different than any other protest, as hard as people are trying to spin this as something else. The powers that be are doing their darnedest to divide us.
Peace
If you actually read the plan, no one, not even the organizers, is calling this a hippie anti war protest. They’re clearly pulling the kids to one side, to divide us, as you say. Don’t be fooled.
When young people were protesting the Vietnam War, they were not against the Vietnamese people. They were against the American government waging this war.
In the Israel/Gaza war, it is about being against Israel. And a lot of that comes with dislike/hatred of Jews. It's ok to be against what Israel is doing to the Palestinians and what they did for decades previous to this time. It's not ok to threaten Jewish students.
When American students protested against South Africa and asked their colleges/universities to divest, it seemed (with other protests throughout the world) to work. I don't know enough to know what investment in Israel looks like compared to South Africa.
I do think that some students are being led astray when there is no mention that there are hostages still being held. Hamas holding them has not prevent the bloodshed in Gaza. But then again, my personal belief is that Netanyahu saw the hostages as collateral damage when the Oct 7 event allowed him to do what he always wanted to do - kill off all the Palestinians.
I have read quotes from both sides about wanting to kill off the other side. There is nowhere to go if that's how they both feel.
But back to the kids, this is likely to cause hard feelings at schools among students. It's hard to know what to do.