On Thursday, Nov. 9 at 2pm, Independence High School students participating in the Palestine walkout made their way out of the front doors, showing their support for Palestine amid the current Israel-Palestine war. Students left in the middle of their classes, exiting the main entrance and making their way towards the stadium.
The walkout was organized by students acting independantly. Student organizations had no official involvment, adhering to LCPS policy.
During the walkout, students gathered before the bleachers, where many Muslim students and students part of the Muslim Student Association stood.
During the walkout, students opened with a recitation from the opening of the Quran, known as Sura Al-Fatiha. Junior Marya Syed lead the organization of the walkout and the events of the walkout itself. She opened by delivering an emotional speech, in honor and remembrance of the thousands of children and other Palestinians who have lost their lives in the current conflict.
Shortly after the speech, all participating students stood in a moment of silence, their heads down as they reflected on the conflict and the lives lost.
“I thought that it was best if we make it short and stay with the goal–a moment of silence to pray for all the innocent lives that have been taken”, Syed explained.
Behind the scenes of this walkout at Independence, a significant amount of planning took place, and a handful of passionate students coordinated weeks prior to the event.
For Syed, her main goal in starting the walkout was to raise awareness of the lives being lost in Palestine. “There are many innocent lives being lost in Gaza and I wanted to bring awareness to that. Us as high schoolers can really connect to these children and know that they’re going through a tough time.”
Syed explained how she organized walkout, as well as how she made the student body aware of the event. “I first met with [IHS principal] Mr. Gabriel because I wanted to make sure it was okay. I know that at other schools across Loudoun County they also did a walkout. They told me how they did it so I kind of did it the same way.”
In the week leading up to the walkout, students posted flyers around the school as well as on Instagram, spreading word of the walkout. Syed and a few other students sent out the flyers they had created through student group chats and organizations at Independence, asking them to spread the word.
Syed called the walkout a success: “This was so much better than I expected this walkout to be, because you know, we’re high schoolers. The past few walkouts were very loud and most people didn’t listen, but actually people were quiet and listening and when I asked them for a moment of silence I didn’t hear anyone talking but everyone put their head down for the moment of silence and I thought that was really nice that people weren’t being disrespectful.”
Another student who helped organize the walkout, Zara Sarwar (12), further explains the purpose of the walkout: “It’s not an issue of one side or the other, it’s a humanitarian crisis. This is not an upcoming issue, [and] this is not something new.
Overall, the walkout was successful, with the many attending students showing respect throughout the course of the walkout, from leaving the classroom to the moment of silence.
