Redlands high school students added their voices to those of pro-Palestinian college students across the region.
A group known on social media as @Students4Palestine, gathered after 12:30 p.m. Friday, May 10, in Sylvan Park for a march to Redlands City Hall. As the demonstration got underway, about 15 students, some holding Palestine flags, waited before making their trek. The group later grew to about 25 students before more joined after school.
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A student organizer, Pearl Solas, 17, said Redlands East Valley High School is the main school behind the effort.
“We are marching because, as of right now, our president and our representatives are continuing to send funds to Israel,” Solas said.
“So many of the older generation experience their close friends, their selves, their siblings being shipped out,” to fight in Vietnam, Solas said. “So many people fought for rights then, and although some are supporting us now, many don’t.”
Bayan Yousef, 18, another high school student, said she was taking part because she is Palestinian.
“I think it’s amazing that there’s actually classmates and people who are not Palestinian who speak up, because never in my life have I seen any of this until now,” Yousef said.
Across the street from University of Redlands, this group of largely RUSD high school students begins their chants. pic.twitter.com/BKaph9Iq5N
— Madison Hart (@madihart67) May 10, 2024
Standing at a street corner, the group did chants, including: “Joe Biden, you can’t hide, we charge you with genocide.” Many passing cars have honked in support of the protesters.
Two best friends, high school students Audrie Amaram and Sofia Mahmoov, joined the protest.
“I don’t think people should be silent during a genocide,” Mahmoov said. “Especially when we learn about it in school and then they expect us to be silent when it’s currently happening.”
Students began their march about 3 p.m., as more teens joined after the school bell rang.
The march comes on the heels of widespread protests at college campuses across Southern California and the country, part of a nationwide student movement in response to Israel’s offensive in Gaza after Hamas launched a deadly attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7.
In Southern California, the pro-Palestinian movement has spurred high-profile encampments at UC Riverside, USC and UCLA, and rallies at Cal State San Bernardino and Cal Poly Pomona.
On Friday, May 3, UC Riverside administration and pro-Palestinian protesters on campus reached an agreement to dissolve the encampment there.
Los Angeles Police Department officers on Sunday, May 5, cleared a pro-Palestinian encampment at USC that began in April. Earlier, unrest took place over several days in late April at UCLA, where a violent clash between pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian protesters led to the arrests of hundreds before an encampment there was dismantled.
