More than 100 students from three Guelph high schools walked out Monday afternoon to show solidarity with Palestine regarding the Israel-Hamas conflict.
The walkout was organized by students from Centennial, John F. Ross and GCVI, who hope the move encourages schools and school boards to show their solidarity in turn for Palestine.
They gathered at city hall and marched around downtown, many chanting and carrying Palestinian flags.
“I find it ridiculous that school boards and schools around Ontario and around the world, they’re not saying anything about it,” said Yasmin, a Grade 12 student at John F. Ross, who asked to only use her first name.
As a Palestinian, she said she wants to feel represented and supported by her school, and said educational institutions should be speaking up about the conflict “because they have a voice. They have a bigger voice than me because their voice gets across more and faster. The people that have a bigger voice, they don’t talk loud enough. They don’t talk at all.”
She said it’s important to speak up because many in Palestine have been cut off from communication and “don’t have a voice.”
Hira Ahmadi, a Grade 12 student from Centennial, said that while she’s not Palestinian, she feels “really heartbroken for all my brothers and sisters in Palestine,” and that she came out today to make a statement.
“I’m hoping that the school will allow us to at least speak out and fundraise for what we want,” she said.
Aseel, a Palestinian Conestoga College student who helped organize the rally, said showing support in this way “is a really important part of the community itself, because we have no power to help with anything. This is the least we can do to help our people there,” she said.
She said a lot of schools across Ontario have taken a neutral stance, “which makes no sense, because if you’re neutral, then you’re with the oppressor.”
“People are dying, kids keep losing their lives. I know a lot of people there too; we can’t reach them. It’s just heartbreaking,” she said.
“I know my father’s friend has lost 40 members of his family,” she said. “So it’s ridiculous that our school(s) and our governments around the world, none of them called for a ceasefire yet.”
Aseel said they hope to hold more rallies to encourage people to speak up, “to call for a ceasefire, at least … so people can stop dying.”
