Hundreds of high school students across Chicago walked out of their schools Tuesday to call for a ceasefire in Gaza.
The City Council is expected to debate a delayed resolution Wednesday that would call for a ceasefire after more than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed and the release of hostages taken by the militant group Hamas in its Oct. 7 attack that killed 1,200 Israelis.
Participants in the student-led protest — which started at noon and is expected to convene at City Hall in the afternoon — said they want their local alderpersons to know that many high schoolers are opposed to continued U.S. funding of Israel’s war in Gaza.
The walkouts are meant to be “pro-peace and pro-humanity,” said the high school senior who led the planning of the protest. They asked not to be named out of fear of online attacks and retribution like other Palestinian students have faced .
“We hope they know that the Chicago youth has spoken loud and proud, and that as representatives of our wards they should do a better job in representing our beliefs and what we stand for,” the student leader said. “We hope that our effort to fulfill our civic duty as high school students that may not yet be able to vote is recognized, and also that our voices are heard and represented.”
Organizers said they expected around 2,000 students at 15 or more schools to walk out Tuesday, including Lincoln Park High School, Curie Metropolitan High School, Jones College Prep, Taft High School and Von Steuben Metropolitan Science High School.
Keffiyehs were scattered throughout the crowd of more than 150 students who walked out of Lincoln Park High School, down Lincoln Avenue and toward the office of Ald. Timmy Knudsen, who has opposed a ceasefire resolution.
Students chanted “ceasefire now” and “Ald. Knudsen you can’t hide, you are funding genocide.” Some students wrote messages like “ceasefire” and “no more killing” on the sidewalk, street and building outside of the alderman’s office.
There was fear the protests could lead to increased tension at schools.
Some Palestinian students reported receiving emails and social media messages calling them Hamas supporters for participating in the ceasefire walkout. At one school, the Anti-Defamation League said an antisemitic picture was sent in a school chat.
But students said they’ve received mostly neutral to positive feedback from administrators and staff. And most students interviewed said they felt safe and expected peaceful interactions among classmates even if views diverged.
Chicago Public Schools officials said students have a right to demonstrate for causes they support. They reiterated that students should respect each other and avoid harmful language. The district said outside groups are prohibited from joining student demonstrations.
“We are a district that is committed to student voice and student participation in civic life and democracy, but harassment, discrimination and bias-based harm have no place in our school communities,” CPS CEO Pedro Martinez wrote in an email to families.
Some kids who participated in the walkouts said one of the goals was to educate classmates and politicians who may be confused about the war or don’t have the context of Israel’s 56-year occupation of Palestinian territories and the 16-year blockade of Gaza.
“Students are seeing how much money our government spends on war, and we’re all scared about college debt, and we’re scared about health care … and we feel the government should be helping us but instead we’re sending billions of dollars a year to fund wars we shouldn’t be participating in,” said another organizer who also asked not to be named.
“Alderpeople really need to think about young people more and how they receive our actions, because we’re the people that are going to be voting for them next,” the organizer said. “If somebody could so easily dismiss this and not call it a genocide, what does it say about them as a person? And that’s some of the characteristics youth are looking for in politicians. We don’t want to see any hypocrites.”
Some students said it’s been particularly distressing to see the continual killing of Palestinian children their age. United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said in November that “Gaza is becoming a graveyard for children.”
“They value our lives a little less,” said a Taft High School student who asked for their name not to be published.
“Thousands and thousands of children [have been killed]. It would basically take like [three] of our Taft High Schools, that’s how many kids we would need to fit all these children.”
The student said it’s been jarring to see the immediate support for Ukraine at the onset of Russia’s invasion while solidarity with Palestinians has been harder to find.
“It’s kind of sad that we still have to show people that we’re human, too,” the student said. “But I think it’s necessary and it’s an effective message for people within the community to know that the next generation does care and our lives also matter and our opinions matter, too.”