On Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024, Berkeley High School students and other Berkeley community members walked out of class to rally and urge the Berkeley City Council to pass a resolution on the ongoing war in Gaza.
The students, teachers, admin, and general Berkeley community members met at Civic Center park at approximately 10:15 a.m., where several members of the Jackets for Palestine club, the organizers of the event, spoke about the current conditions in Palestine, what actions Israel is taking, how the U.S. is aiding the war, and Palestine’s “75 years under occupation,” according to Sonali Mascarenhas-Swan, a BHS junior who spoke at the event.
After the initial speeches, approximately 60 students and community members walked up Allston Way at 11:00 a.m. — passing a small group of Berkeley community members and Berkeley Unified School District students who gathered to show support for Israel — eventually ending up on Allston and Shattuck, where the mass of people concentrated itself to block traffic on the single block.
Julio Gonzalez-Cotorruelo and Emma Knisbacher, the co-presidents of the Jackets for Palestine club, led the crowd in chants in between the speeches. A wide array of people spoke: students of all grades, teachers, a Berkeley middle school student, and even state senate candidate Jovanka Beckles.
At around 12:40 p.m., the walkout dispersed from Shattuck and Allston, and students headed back to class.