Lake County students join nationwide pro-Palestine demonstrations, counter-protests; ‘Not an expression for or against any particular religious group’
Lake County high school students joined in a wave of campus demonstrations that has swept across the country in recent weeks supporting Palestine, and urging a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
There was a student-organized walkout at Adlai E. Stevenson High School Thursday, where about 75 students gathered after 3rd period on the football field, according to school officials. Police and administration officials locked down the campus, blocking all possible entrances to the Lincolnshire campus during the demonstration.
A few students spoke at the start of the gathering, and that was followed by a 20-minute silent sit-in, according to Jaimie Oh, director of communications at the high school. The demonstration went off without incident, and students who missed class for the walkout will receive an unexcused absence, Oh said.
Counter-protesters gathered across the street from the public school. About 50 community members and some students gathered at the intersection of Palazzo Drive and State Route 22, waving Israeli flags, and holding pictures of hostages and signs, one of which read: “Principals and faculty! Unable to control underage students! Allow support of terrorist ideas!”
At least one student left class to attend the counter-protest. Sean Vaysburg, a senior, said he participated because he wanted to stand up for what he believes in.
About eight miles northeast of Stevenson, 25 students at Lake Forest High School walked out of class at around 11:40 a.m. with messages supportive of Palestine, according to school officials. A counter-protest of about the same size was staged across the street, school officials said.
In a letter to the school community, Principal Erin Lenart said she had met with the students planning the event and was, “assured that this is about a peaceful resolution to the current conflict in Israel and Gaza, and it is not an expression for or against any particular religious group.”
“As a community school, I wholeheartedly welcome the many perspectives, beliefs, and opportunities our residents have offered,” Lenart said in the letter emailed Wednesday. “Some in our community have called this a teachable moment for our school. While that may be true, this might also be considered an opportunity for our entire community to grow and learn as one.”
Students from a few Chicago Public Schools walked out of classes Wednesday to protest the war in Gaza, first demonstrating in their schools and then marching to join the encampment at the University of Chicago.
Palestinian solidarity encampments have popped up at dozens of college campuses across the U.S. in recent weeks as the death toll climbs in the war in Gaza. Students are decrying violence against Palestinians, and calling upon their institutions to divest from weapons manufacturers and companies supporting Israel.
The death toll in Gaza has climbed to more than 34,500 Palestinians, according to the Associated Press, and another 2.3 million people have been displaced from their homes. If the Israel-Hamas war stopped today, it would take until 2040 to rebuild all the homes that have been destroyed in Gaza, according to a United Nations report released Thursday.
A third Lake County student-organized demonstration has been held at Warren Township High School in Gurnee, a suburb about 40 miles north of Chicago. According to school officials, about 70 students left class on the Almond campus at 10:30 a.m. Thursday in support of Palestine.
Superintendent Daniel Woestman said students who left class will receive an unexcused absence.
As students organize, campus responses have varied. Many colleges, including Columbia University in New York City, have called on law enforcement to snuff out demonstrations, leading to more than 1,000 arrests nationwide and, at times, physical confrontations between police and students.
In rare instances, schools have struck agreements with student protest leaders. At Northwestern University, organizers and school administration agreed to a plan to allow demonstrations to continue, while requiring the removal of tents and sound systems.
The private university in Evanston also agreed to fund two visiting Palestinian faculty members each year, and provide scholarships for five Palestinian undergraduates throughout their undergraduate careers. The school also agreed to provide and renovate a community building to be used as a gathering space for Middle Eastern, North African and Muslim students.
Demonstrations at Chicago-area college campuses, including the University of Chicago, DePaul University and more, have remained relatively subdued, with little to no police intervention, as hundreds of students demand their schools divest from Israel and weapons manufacturers.
chilles@chicagotribune.com