Students and teachers across New York City will call for a ceasefire in Gaza as well as “an end to U.S. support for genocide” today as part of a nationwide “Shutdown for Palestine” demonstration. More than a hundred NYC public schools will be participating in “Schools Out for #CeasefireNow,” according to a “toolkit” shared online.
This “toolkit” provides students with guidance on leading the walkouts (such as dealing with administrators and counter-protestors). The walkouts will end at a citywide rally in Manhattan’s Bryant Park. An attached list of “demands” states students are looking to “break the silence on Palestine” at schools in the city and “stand against the brutal bombardment of besieged Gaza.”
Teachers, on the other hand, are prompted to push for a ceasefire alongside elected officials, with suggestions on writing resolutions demanding “an end to Israel’s occupation of Palestine,” offering different pathways depending on how “progressive” the school district is. Scripts are provided for those wishing to call their representatives. These scripts are very anti-Israel, calling for an end to the Jewish state’s “violence” immediately. “Any more military funding to Israel will fuel violence by arming the Israeli government,” one script reads. “This is a genocide of Palestinian people in Gaza.”
NYC DOE Chancellor David Banks reportedly warned school employees yesterday that “their personal political views” must be separated from their jobs. But given the momentum of this protest, it seems that such warnings will not be heeded.
New York City has been the hotbed of protests over the Israel-Hamas war, whether it be on the streets or on college campuses. Some in New York and elsewhere have spilled over into anti-Semitism and Islamaphobia, though many were peaceful even with counter-protests. Jewish protests in their own right have occurred as well, including a notable occupation of the Statue of Liberty while calling for a ceasefire. What seems to be broadly agreed upon is that many want an end to the violence in the region.
