Student Strike! DMV High School Strike for Gaza - May 24
Students of all ages, teachers, families, and supportive community members are all welcome at McPherson Square in DC at 11am to demonstrate solidarity with Palestine by disrupting business as usual.
We republish the DMV School Strikers for Gaza Toolkit for their upcoming strike action NEXT FRIDAY on MAY 24 at 11am. Whether or not you are a high school student, COME OUT and support these students! Their actions are inspiring, and we NEED to support them by whatever means necessary. Spread the word FAR AND WIDE!
Toolkit: DMV High School Strike for Gaza
By the DMV School Strikers
In this toolkit, you will find:
The strike itself- logistics, contact information for organizers, safety protocols, etc.
Why we (as high school students) across the DMV are strikingÂ
Resources on how to talk to your school + your parents about striking
As the IOF continues its assault on Gaza and Palestinians, millions are in danger, and we need to mobilize our communities to say NO SCHOOL AS USUAL! Join us as we send a message across the DMV: we will not normalize genocide, and we will not participate in business as usual.
WHY ARE WE STRIKING?
Over the past 200+ days, we have seen a tragedy unfold in Palestine. As the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) refuses to cease its attacks on Gaza, over 40,000 casualties have been reported in the past few months alone. These attacks have taken over 40,00 lives, over 12,300 of which are children. Children, just like us, murdered. While our institutions and government wants us to pretend nothing is wrong, every university in Gaza has been destroyed. And our government, the United States, is funding this atrocity, sending billions in military aid to Israel’s military, while telling us there’s nothing wrong. This is unacceptable.
We refuse to stand by idly while a genocide is committed by our governments, and especially as students in the belly of the beast, Washington D.C. We have an obligation to stop business as usual and stand up as our age-peers are being slaughtered on our tax dollars. We are striking to show our communities and governments that the youth will no longer be complicit in the incessant violence against Palestinians. We are striking to start conversations within our communities about the injustices our government is committing. We are striking to prove that we have not been indoctrinated into their normalization of a genocide. We are striking to build community and solidarity with one another, as students, and as radical dreamers of a better world. We are striking because we are the next generation, and we are showing that we will be the ones to build a world where everyone is free.Â
DEMANDS
We demand that the Biden administration and Congress:Â
End unconditional military aid to Israel
Call for a permanent and immediate ceasefire
STRIKE LOGISTICS
The rally will start at 11am on Friday, May 24th. We will hold a rally at McPherson Square (901 15th St NW STE 700) and march to the White House. There, we will hear from speakers and participate in teach-ins about the student movement and Palestinian cause all afternoon (until 5pm). Free lunch will be provided to all who come!
Though this is a school strike focused on mobilizing high school students, all members of the community are welcome and encouraged to join us. There is power in numbers, and we’d love anybody and everybody to support our student movement. This includes teachers, parents, grandparents, college/graduate students, etc. High school students are encouraged to start pods within their schools/communities to come to the strike together, and we encourage adults in the community to support your local/affiliated pod. Fill out this form to find your pod, or reach out to schoolstrike4gazadmv@gmail.com.
We will be accompanied by experienced student and community organizers. We will have police liaisons, press/media liaisons, marshalls, medics, and de-escalators, all who will be wearing neon vests. If you can’t remember what vest color corresponds to what, find anyone with a vest and they will direct you to who you’re looking for. This support will be present throughout the march and rally. This protest will be 100% peaceful and we are not anticipating any legal troubles or arrests, but we do have lawyers, police liaisons, and marshals on deck in the off-chance the police escalate against us.Â
Call for marshalls and deescalators:
Calling everyone with marshall or deescalator experience! We need your help with the DMV High Schoolers' School Strike for Gaza on May 24th. We're mobilizing high schoolers from all over the area to strike from school for Gaza and march through downtown, and we really need marshalls and deescalators to keep all of the high schoolers safe. Please reach out if you're interested in helping us out!
HOW TO TALK TO YOUR SCHOOL/PARENTS ABOUT STRIKING
You want to join us? Amazing! There are multiple pathways to striking from school, and only you make the call on what’s best for your situation.Â
Striking seems like a scary thing, and especially with the villanization of pro-Palestinian protests in the media lately, many parents may think it’s unsafe for you to attend. However, this rally will be 100% peaceful, and organizers are taking every measure possible to ensure participants safety. This includes having numerous trained and experienced police liaisons, de-escalators, and marshals at the rally and march. We have planned this action alongside veteran organizers who have planned numerous peaceful, unescalated, and legal protests at the exact same locations.Â
The easiest way to not be penalized for striking from school is to get your parents to write you a note to excuse your absence and communicate with your teachers beforehand that you will not be in school that day. This not only makes your life easier by avoiding disciplinary/truancy issues, but also starts a dialogue within your communities about how pressing the current situation is. Here is a template you can use to email/talk to your school and teachers, and you can use the above reasons for why we’re striking as talking points. Every school’s requirements for planned absences are different, so research what your school needs you to provide to not be penalized for not showing up. If you anticipate pushback or punishment from your school’s administration or teachers for this, you do not need to tell them why you are not at school. Do what is best for you.Â
This path is not for everyone, but it is the simplest and often safest. The best method to go about this is whatever prioritizes your personal and mental wellbeing- so if you do not feel safe making these asks of your parents/guardians/teachers- that is okay. This is not the only way to plug into the movement, and your willingness to attend is already admirable.
RECRUITMENT
There is power in numbers! Schools across the DMV have created pods, and you should mobilize your school too! Fill out this form to become a school lead and mobilize your community! (For security reasons, the organizing team for the strike is not publicly sharing all the schools with students participating. If you fill out this form and there's already a mobilization within your school.) For non-students, fill out this form to get connected with your local pod or to start one if no pod exists!Â
Don’t have the capacity to be a school lead but still want to promote the strike? Direct folks to our Instagram (@schoolstrike4gazadmv) and/or print out these flyers and put them around your community/school! (Be careful to adhere to school rules if you’re putting them on school property- be cautious and choose the safer option when unsure what to do!)
Students Belong in the Union!
This essay was adapted from a pamphlet written by UK based members of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) union for student-organizers. Given the upsurge in undergraduate student-worker organiz…
Get in touch with the Student Strikers for Gaza
schoolstrike4gazadmv@gmail.com
Instagram: schoolstrike4gazadmv
Get in touch with Solidarity, not Silence!
solidaritynotsilence2023@gmail.com
301.802.1926
DMVeducationworkers@protonmail.com
Who are the Angry Education Workers?
This is a project to gather a community of revolutionary education workers who want to chart a course towards a socialist education system. We want to build contacts between education workers around the world to become a platform for educators of all backgrounds and job roles to share workers’ inquiries, stories of collective action, labor strategy, theoretical reflections, and art.
If you are a union, political collective, mutual aid network, or other organization, and want us to publish materials for you, please reach out!
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I hope you get the results you and the rest of us want. Thanks for doing this.