University students have inspired high schoolers to conduct pro-Hamas walkouts in New York, Virginia, Utah, Philadelphia, Nebraska, and Michigan. Maryland students led a protest on Thursday at Clarksburg High School, in the ultra-blue district of Montgomery County Public Schools. The walkout was supported by Clarksburg’s principal, Edward Owusu, who sent parents a message to notify them of “an event planned for tomorrow.”
Since Montgomery County is about 10 percent Jewish (compared with America’s 2.5 percent Jewish population), its community is used to some level of antisemitism. Most recently, on October 20, swastikas, inappropriate words, and a “stick figure drawing of a person firing weapons” were scrawled on a bathroom wall at Chevy Chase Elementary School. Then on October 27, a swastika was drawn on a basketball court at Thomas W. Pyle Middle School. Nearby, vandals drew swastikas all over residential streets in Gaithersburg. And, keep in mind that Montgomery County is near Washington, D.C., where Hamas sympathizers left blood-red handprints at the White House during a massive pro-Palestinian protest last weekend. Given these (very) recent incidents, you’d expect a high-school principal to notify parents about anti-Israel protests. Not quite in the way Owusu did, though.
“As members of the Clarksburg community, we each have a responsibility to one another. Our richness is our diversity. In unprecedented times like these around the world, we should strive to be open, to listen, and to respect the rights of others,” he said in an email to parents.
“Tomorrow, Thursday, November 9th there will be a student-led walkout planned during periods 2 beginning at the Cafeteria Patio. Led by the Muslim Student Association, students will be demonstrating to voice their concerns about the conflict in the Middle East, in support of Palestine. Participation in this demonstration is optional (not mandatory) and has been approved by school leadership,” he continued. “Absences due to the participation in the walk-out will be excused, and students will be responsible for all missed work and instruction.”
So, on Thursday, Jewish students sat in classrooms while their high-school peers professed support for Israel’s demise — with school administrators’ approval. The Montgomery County school district allows students the right to “assemble for discussions of issues of importance to them and to demonstrate peacefully,” but the district also specifies that “any walk-out or departure from campus during the instructional day will be treated as an unexcused absence, given the disruptive impact on school operations.” Further, the district forbids bullying or harassment that “creates a hostile educational environment by substantially interfering with a student’s educational benefits, opportunities, or performance, or with a student’s physical or psychological well-being.”
MCPS issued a vague statement after Hamas began its October 7 killing spree, which Jewish organizations called “inadequate.”
“Our heartfelt thoughts are with our students and their families, who may be experiencing the impact of the deeply disturbing and tragic violence in Israel and Gaza in a variety of ways,” MCPS said. “Our schools must be welcoming, safe, and secure places for all students. . . . Students and families may have ties to the region or may be subject to anxiety based on what they see in the news. This tragic series of events may also come on top of emotions triggered by other recent events.”
The district linked a resource for parents on “how to talk to kids about violence, crime, and war.” Will MCPS also teach parents how to explain to children why their classmates and educators support terrorism?