The UK school children strike for Palestine

The UK school children strike for Palestine

With school strikes and assembly boycotts, children are taking action to call for a ceasefire in Gaza. Lydia Noon reports from Bristol. ‘Every child deserves a childhood’, reads a placard at Bristol’s school strike for Palestine. LYDIA NOON

‘There’s one ribbon for each of the children killed in Gaza,’ said Zeinab*. She points to a big plastic box of green, white, red, and black ribbons in the colours of the Palestinian flag. ‘I hope there’s enough,’ she says quietly.

On Friday 3 November 2023, Zeinab’s two children joined about 400 others from Bristol, southwest England. It was part of the city’s School Strike For Palestine – the first UK school strike since Israel’s bombing of Gaza began in October.

Local campaigners and parents organized the strike. Bristol Stop the War Coalition, Palestine Solidarity Campaign Bristol, and The Green Party supported them.

That same day, hundreds of 17 and 18-year-old school students in East London also boycotted a school assembly where Labour MP Wes Streeting was going to speak. They boycotted the assembly because of the Labour party’s position on Israel-Palestine.

In Bristol, the children and adults marched noisily to the front door of the council’s City Hall with a petition They chanted ‘ceasefire now’. They tied 3,457 ribbons to the railings outside the offices. They demanded that the city’s Labour MPs Kerry McCarthy, Darren Jones, Karin Smyth, and Thangam Debbonaire call for an immediate ceasefire.

After six days the number of deaths in Gaza was over 10,500, including 4,300 children. Another1,300 children are still missing, thought to be dead.

Children and adults write a petition to give to CIty Hall in Bristol during the city’s first School Strike for Palestine. Protesters also chanted ‘ceasefire now’ and demanded that the city’s Labour MPs Kerry McCarthy, Darren Jones, Karin Smyth, and Thangam Debbonaire call for an immediate ceasefire. LYDIA NOON

One child killed every 10 minutes

‘To the children in Palestine, we hear you, we see you, we love you, we are forever praying for you,’ said one of the young speakers to the crowd in Bristol. ‘They are children just like us, our brothers, sisters, cousins, friends.’

One of the placards in the crowd said ‘one child is killed every 10 minutes in Gaza’ – a sad statistic from Save the Children. Almost half, 47 per cent, of the people living in Gaza are under 18, one of the youngest populations in the world.

Doctors are using a new acronym - ‘WCNSF’. Tanya Haj-Hassan is a paediatric intensive care doctor for Doctors Without Borders. In an interview on the BBC on 4 November, she said ‘WCNSF’ means ‘Wounded Child and No Surviving Family’.

‘We want to save Palestine, that’s why we are missing school. Children should play,’ said seven-year-old Lara* holding a placard and running around with other children. Her mum Megan* wrote a letter to her daughter’s school headteacher telling them about her daughter’s absence but she was still waiting for a reply.

Many of the protesters in Bristol were angry that the opposition Labour Party did not call for a ceasefire. And many from the Labour Party resigned or did not agree with the Party about Israel-Palestine. Ribbons outside Bristol’s City Hall during the city’s first School Strike for Palestine. Protesters tied 3,457 ribbons to the railings outside the offices and demanded that the city’s Labour MPs Kerry McCarthy, Darren Jones, Karin Smyth and Thangam Debbonaire call for an immediate ceasefire. LYDIA NOON

‘It’s about doing what we can’

On the day of the strike, Zeinab took her son and daughter to school for the first part of the morning and told their teachers that they would probably not return for the rest of the day and why.

‘It is about showing support and trying to make politicians agree to a cease fire now’, she said. ‘The children want to be here because the Israelis are bombing schools and refugee camps, and killing children. The numbers of deaths are terrible – it’s about doing what we can.’

None of the parents wanted to use their real names. They were afraid they or their children would suffer. Zeinab said someone shouted out of their car window and called her a ‘terrorist’ when she was wearing a hijab and a keffiyeh scarf. She was wearing them to support Palestine.

Aisha* brought her 11-year-old daughter to the strike and took the day off work. She said that she is frightened by the increase of Islamophobia and racism in the UK. People are encouraged by what the Conservative government, Labour opposition, and mainstream media are saying. There is also an increase in antisemitism.

Too difficult for children to understand?

On some social media pages, people were calling for the website to take down the posts about the strikes. People said that strike organizers were forcing children into something they cannot understand.

Aisha disagrees. ‘Our children are seeing what’s happening on social media. The strike is a way for them to show their feelings.’ Aisha says that it is the first time she is seeing so much support for Palestine.

Bristol’s school strike is growing support. A WhatsApp group for the campaign has nearly 600 members. More are joining every day and they are inspiring others. In Harrow, northwest London, there is another school strike on Friday with possibly more places joining around the country.

Organizers promised to be back outside Bristol City Council on Friday 10 November and they plan to continue every week until there is a ceasefire.

To get involved, see School Strike for Palestine on Facebook and Instagram.

• Names are changed

NOW TRY THE ORIGINAL:

https://newint.org/features/2023/11/09/uk-kids-skipping-school-palestine

(This article is in easier English so it is possible that we changed the words, the text structure, and the quotes.)