‘Moral duty’: students strike to support free Palestine
NSW school students are expected to swap textbooks for protest placards in a rally to show solidarity with Palestinians.
People participate in a Pro-Palestine demonstration in Melbourne, Thursday, November 23, 2023. (AAP Image/James Ross)
Hundreds of school students are preparing to knock off early, skipping class to show support for Palestine as part of nationwide events.
The organisers of High Schoolers For Palestine are encouraging students to walk out of class across Sydney, Wollongong and Byron Bay to show support for the Palestinian cause.
Year 12 student and rally organiser Eva said attendees had a moral duty to show solidarity for children in Gaza.
“High school students in Gaza right now can’t go to school, can’t get an education,” she told AAP.
“As students, we have a moral duty to stand up for Palestine.
“The least we can do here in Australia is come out to show our support for an end to the bombing.”
Fellow Year 12 student and rally speaker Jaseena said she would be joining the protest “to use my voice for those children in Gaza who are not able to pursue their education, and whose basic human rights have been stolen from them”.
In a Facebook event listing, organisers urged students to “bring your friends and classmates and show that business as usual can’t continue while there is a genocide being committed in Gaza”.
“We’ll be walking out of school to demand an end to the bombing of Gaza, an end to the siege and an end to the occupation,” the group said.
Speakers at the Sydney Town Hall event will include striking high school students, the National Union of Students education officer and Palestinian and Jewish critics of Israel.
NSW Premier Chris Minns and Education Minister Prue Car told students to stay in class.
“If you want to change the world, get an education,” Mr Minns said this week.
The Sydney rally is one in a series of national student strikes for Palestinians.
More than 1000 Victorian school students blocked city streets and staged a sit-in at a major shopping centre in Melbourne on Thursday in support of Palestine.
In Adelaide, pupils held a demonstration at Parliament House.
There have been many pro-Palestine and pro-Israel rallies across the nation since October 7, when Hamas militants crossed into southern Israel from Gaza.
The militants killed more than 1200 Israelis and took about 240 people hostage.
Retaliatory strikes by Israel have resulted in the deaths of an estimated 13,000 people.
Report from Samantha Lock/AAP
