Update: The other chant that was used at the end of the rally has been removed from the article. LCPS released a statement concerning student walkouts and can be read here.
Chants of “Free Palestine” rang out this Wednesday as over 120 Dominion students walked out in support of freeing Palestine. After alerting administration about the planned walkout and notifying the student body through word-of-mouth and social media, students walked out at 11:06 AM.
The walkout was one of the multiple Dominion student efforts taken to raise awareness and funds for Palestine, along with the MSA’s bake sale, where they partnered with Herndon High School’s MSA to raise over $550 for the cause. Dominion’s Muslim Student Association was not affiliated with the organization of the walkout (DHS Press Assistant Editor Alla Abdelhalim is a member of Dominion’s MSA).
Mohamed Nashnoush, Lana Barmil, and Farris Alikaj spoke to the crowd about the violence occurring in Israel and Palestine. “The walkout is in protest of the killing and human crimes done against the Palestinian people,” Nashnoush said.
Students walked out for a wide array of reasons. “I feel that I have a duty to represent Muslims in the best way. I feel like a good quality of a Muslim is one that speaks out against things that are going on against his brother and sisters in other countries,” Nashnoush said.
Some students looked to educate themselves on the ongoing conflict during the protest. “My friend educated me on it, and I wanted to learn more about it,” Lucy Siciliano said.
For two students, this is more personal than most; Hamza Alsefyani has friends living in Palestine, and Lana Barmil has family living there. “I’ve been keeping in touch with my family back home. I’ve been on call with my family and friends hearing the missiles from in the call,” Barmil said.
Organizers of the walkout encouraged students to participate in the National March on Washington occurring this Saturday at 2 pm which will start at Freedom Plaza and will loop around to the White House. Some students have participated in previous protests in D.C. such as Farouq Ibrahim who attended the “Day of Action for Palestine” rally and march on October 15th. “Innocent children are dying, people are getting killed and nobody is talking about it. It’s a humanitarian crisis,” Ibrahim said.
Along with motivating students to boycott corporations such as McDonald’s and Starbucks, organizers provided ways to be further educated and information on how to donate to relief funds. “I feel like everyone should be involved in, [and] have their own opinion about what is happening, especially when they are growing up and they want to visit all these other countries and [don’t] know what’s happening. I feel like it’s good to have that in mind and learn about the past and the history,” said Barmil.
