Students cancel plans for controversial walkout at Eastern Regional High School
VOORHEES – Students at Eastern Regional High School have cancelled plans for a controversial walkout in support of Palestinians.
The protest, initially planned for April 25, will be replaced by "a united rally in support of basic human rights for the innocent people on both sides of the conflict," according to a school representative.
The rally is tentatively scheduled for May 20.
The change followed a meeting between student leaders and administrators at the high school on Wednesday morning.
It also came after two Camden County commissioners claimed the walkout would create "a hostile and isolating environment for Jewish students."
Commissioners Jeffrey Nash and Melinda Kane on Tuesday demanded the walkout's cancellation in a two-page letter to Robert Cloutier, the district's superintendent.
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The commissioners said an Oct. 10 walkout at Eastern after a Hamas attack on Israel was dedicated to the “memory of all innocent lives lost.”
They contended the “'Pro-Palestinian' walkout is fueled by anti-Israeli rhetoric" and is "even more intolerable" because it would occur during the Jewish holiday of Passover.
Among other points, the commissioners noted a flyer for the event reads "Stop Bombing Gaza' and urges people to stand up for "basic human rights."
The flyer "fails to address drones and missiles sent daily into Israel by Hamas and Hezbollah," the commissioners' letter said.
The change in plans was an "appropriate decision," U.S. Rep. Donald Norcross said Wednesday.
"Regardless of one's position on the current conflict in Gaza, the timing of the walkout (during Passover) was antagonistic and unnecessary," he said.
"Many of our Jewish friends and neighbors in New Jersey have ties to Israel and lost loved ones in the October 7th massacre," the Camden Democrat said in a statement. "The planned walkout would have undoubtedly exacerbated the pain of the Jewish community, which includes many students, faculty, and staff at Eastern High School."
A school representative on Tuesday said Eastern’s administrators had met with Voorhees police to evaluate "potential security concerns stemming from online discourse about this demonstration.”“The safety of our students is paramount,” the representative said in Tuesday's statement.
The Eastern district serves about 1,900 middle and high school students from Voorhees, Gibbsboro and Berlin Borough.
Jim Walsh is a senior reporter with the Courier-Post, Burlington County Times and The Daily Journal. Email: Jwalsh@cpsj.com.
This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Eastern Regional students have new plan for human-rights rally
