1,500 Bay Area students walk out, calling for ceasefire in the Middle East
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Hundreds of Bay Area students joined a nationwide walkout Wednesday calling for a ceasefire in the Middle East.
"We just felt like it was time to show everyone we are students and we are young, but we also have opinions and those matter," said Deena Abdellaoui, an 11th grade student at Galileo High School.
From Berkeley to San Francisco, organizers say 1,500 students took to the streets.
"They have been seeing horrific images on the TV of people getting killed, a million people being displaced in Palestine," said Nour Bouhassoun, youth coordinator, Arab Resource and Organizing Center.
MORE: SF rallies call for peace, resolution to be reached in Israel-Hamas War
Tara Campbell: "How does it feel to be walking with so many of your fellow students today?"
Yousra Chouadra, Galileo High School student: "It feels powerful and it feels like my voice is actually heard and a lot of times it hasn't been.
Meanwhile, on the stairs of San Francisco City Hall, there were more calls for peace.
"As a daughter of an Israeli, as a Jewish woman, as a human being, I say stop the madness - stop the killing," said Supervisor Hillary Ronen. "Leaders of the world must come together to negotiate a meaningful peace and lasting solutions so that people on all sides can live with freedom and safety."
MORE: Bay Area Jewish community ties ribbons, rallies for Israel as war in Middle East continues
"We call for an immediate cease-fire," said Dr. Manal Elkarra, from the podium. "We call for the opening of a humanitarian corridor to allow aid, and medical equipment to enter Gaza.
And back at Galileo Highschool the chanting continued. "You just need to be human to feel that these people are being killed," Chouradra.
If you're on the ABC7 News app, click here to watch live
