High School Students Lead Pro-Palestine Protests, Show Support for Campus Encampments
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As pro-Palestine protests on college campuses continue to sweep the nation, high school students have joined the movement to demand an end to US military aid to Israel and the ongoing war in Gaza. Amid finals, classes, and college decision celebrations, high schoolers have organized sit-ins and marches to nearby university campuses, echoing the frustrations of their college peers.
On Monday, May 6, students from various Massachusetts high schools blocked Massachusetts Avenue and circled MIT’s Gaza solidarity encampment, leading chants and keeping the space from state police interference.
As the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s encampment entered its fourth day on Thursday, May 2, roughly 75 students from nearby Shorewood High School journeyed from their classes to the college grounds, chanting with one another. That same day, dozens of students from various high schools marched at the state capitol, following walkouts at the end of April.
In the neighboring state of Illinois, young protestors at one school in Chicago have engaged in “peace talks” and worn keffiyehs to class each Thursday since March, expressing solidarity with Palestine. And on Wednesday, May 1, teens took to direct forms of protest at demonstrations organized by Chicago Youth for Justice. Protests started at numerous high schools, then students marched together to the encampment at the University of Chicago. At Jones College Prep, students left fourth period to gather for a sit-in, prompting their college decision day celebration to be postponed, while at Kenwood Academy High School students congregated in their atrium to listen to fellow activists speak during seventh period.
These high school demonstrations come in response to the efforts of college students urging their institutions to divest from companies with direct financial ties to Israel. Students are also calling for the US government to push for a ceasefire in Gaza, where the ongoing Israeli incursion has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials. Over the past few weeks, student encampments have cropped up on campuses across the country, many of which were swiftly shut down by university authorities and police.
Yet much of this student activism dates back to the fall, as Israel retaliated against Gaza for the October 7 Hamas attack that killed more than 1,200 Israelis. In November, young people from New York City public schools met in Midtown and marched through Times Square alongside teachers for a daylong event. In January, Chicago public high schoolers convened at city hall with “Students for Palestine” signs, while, in February, Oakland middle schoolers staged a walkout.
Although high school iterations of protests look different than those on college and university grounds, where many students live full-time, the underlying sentiment is similar: “I’m protesting against a government that is actively hurting people just because of where they were born and what language they speak,” Pia Ibsen, a high school senior who helped organize a walkout in Austin, Texas, told USA Today.
Ibsen was one of about 100 high schoolers to march around the premises of her high school with speakers, handmade signs, and Palestinian flags on Monday, April 29, expressing support for protestors at the University of Texas. In Washington State the previous week, Seattle teens gathered at Capitol Hill to call for Palestinian freedom and in New York City, some high school seniors have even rethought their college plans for the fall, based on how universities have handled protests. After several weeks of on- and off-campus tumult and reportedly over 2,600 student arrests, college and high school students alike continue to organize demonstrations and push for their voices to be heard.
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