'Free Palestine': AISD high school students stage walk out to protest Israel-Hamas war

As protesters gathered at the University of Texas on Monday in a continuation of pro-Palestinian demonstrations from last week, students at some Austin high schools walked out of class to show their own frustration with the Israel-Hamas war, which has reportedly left more than 30,000 people dead in Gaza.

About 100 students walked out of class Monday afternoon at McCallum High School and marched about a mile around the campus perimeter chanting, “Students together can make the world better.”

The McCallum High students were among those at some Austin district high schools who held demonstrations Monday afternoon in support of Palestinian people caught in the Middle East conflict as Israel continues bombarding Gaza in response to a surprise deadly attack by Hamas, a militant Palestinian group, against the Jewish state on Oct. 7.

McCallum High students gathered under a massive oak tree in front of the school and chanted while other students held signs and wove a green, red, black and white Palestinian flag.

“Free, free Palestine,” chanted several dozen students in a tight circle near the oak’s trunk. Several others stood farther back, sheltering in the shade from the warm sun.

Some of the students who protested did so because they disagree with the United States' financial backing of Israel's war effort, said McCallum High senior Zephan Mayeda, who helped organize the demonstration.

“A lot of us feel immense empathy for the people that are suffering in Palestine,” Mayeda said, adding that he also wanted to show solidarity with student protesters at UT.

“People are getting assaulted for showing their rights,” Mayeda said.

Police on Monday arrested at least 100 people at UT after protesters set up an encampment on the campus' South Mall, according to three Travis County officials who were briefed on the situation by university leaders. George Lobb, an attorney with the Austin Lawyers Guild, told the American-Statesman that at least 43 protesters had been arrested as of 5 p.m., though that number was expected to grow.

It was not immediately clear what charges were filed against the protesters, but the Travis County officials said the charges could include resisting arrest and assault.

At a protest at UT on Wednesday, police arrested 57 protesters, all of whom were charged with criminal trespass. Travis County Attorney Delia Garza’s office, however, dropped all those charges after finding the probable cause affidavits were deficient.

Pia Ibsen, a McCallum High senior, participated in the high school rally Monday to show her support for the children and families harmed by the fighting in Israel and Gaza, she said.

“We just want to make our voices heard,” Ibsen said.

Ibsen attended a pro-Palestine rally at UT on Thursday, which remained peaceful and had far less police present than the demonstration a day earlier. People at that protest gathered and chanted for a couple of hours before dispersing.

Ibsen has participated in protests for years, she said, because it’s important to her that people hear her voice.

“I’m 18,” Ibsen said. “I’m old enough to vote. I’ve been doing protests for a long time. I’m the future. I’m going off to college. I can make a difference.”

Many of the UT students gathered Monday on the college campus were there to demand the university divest from Israeli weapons manufacturers and to call for a ceasefire in Gaza.

Some UT students, who are part of an on-campus Jewish student group, attended the protest at UT to speak in opposition to the pro-Palestine demonstrators. Those students said they felt threatened by language they heard at Wednesday's protest, which they said was antisemitic.

At McCallum High on Monday, it was important to Mayeda that people didn’t associate the high school students' protest with antisemitism, he said.

One high school student speaker addressed this concern when speaking to the other students gathered and called for peace.

In a message to parents ahead of the Monday demonstrations, Superintendent Matias Segura wrote that the events were not sponsored by the district and were entirely organized by students.

“We are dedicated to creating an atmosphere that values diversity and condemns all forms of discrimination,” Segura said in the letter.

The district also had counselors on campus during and after the protests to provide support to students who needed it during or after the demonstrations.

“We recognize that our students may have a variety of emotions and perspectives around these sensitive issues,” Segura said in the letter.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Austin high school students stage walk out in pro-Palestinian protests