High School Students Demand US End Weapon Supplies to Israel
High school students across western Washington left their classrooms on Tuesday, joining a chorus of voices calling on the US to stop supplying weapons to Israel in the ongoing conflict with Hamas.
“People are dying – why wouldn’t I be upset about it?” questioned August Donica, a student from Garfield High School. “It’s a genocide. You gotta be a special type of person to just not care about it, and not special in a good way.”
The protests followed the first night of Passover celebrations, a significant occasion for the Jewish community. Washington state student organizers asserted, “Being silent is complicit in these crimes against humanity.”
However, Jewish community members have raised concerns about the potential for antisemitism on college campuses across the country, reporting offensive language and actions during protests.
Schools in Seattle, Redmond, Renton, Issaquah, Woodinville, and others, as well as local colleges and universities, participated in the walkouts. In Seattle, students received excused absences for participating in the protests by completing civic engagement activity forms two days prior.
“We would like to show as much as we can. So if that means skipping class, if that means walking out, if that means disrupting the norm at our school or our communities, we will do so in a peaceful manner,” said Nola Watson, a Garfield senior.
Hundreds of students gathered at Cal Anderson Park after the walkout for a rally. Garfield High student Maysun Dawahare, who is of Arab descent, spoke about the personal impact of the violence in the Middle East.
“It connects with me personally on a daily basis,” Dawahare stated. “It’s important because people are starting to forget.”
Jewish leaders in Seattle have expressed concerns that the protests could fuel rising antisemitism. According to the Anti-Defamation League, 2023 witnessed the highest number of antisemitic incidents in the United States since the organization began tracking statistics 45 years ago. Washington had the most incidents in the Pacific Northwest, with 190 reported in 2023 compared to 65 in 2022.
The protests have spread to many college campuses following Hamas’ deadly attack on southern Israel, which resulted in the deaths of approximately 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and the taking of 250 hostages. According to the local health ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and non-combatants, Israel has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians in the ensuing conflict in the Gaza Strip. However, the ministry estimates that at least two-thirds of those killed were children and women.
Columbia University in New York canceled in-person classes on Monday due to the protests, while dozens of protesters were arrested at New York University and Yale during demonstrations.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
