SFUSD students hold rally supporting Palestinians as group faces criticism
SAN FRANCISCO – More than 100 protesters shut down most of Franklin Street in front of the San Francisco Unified School District offices for 45 minutes Wednesday afternoon. It was all part of a student-led rally demanding more support for Arab and Muslim students.
It comes just a few days after the district announced it has started an investigation into the actions of the Arab Resource and Organizing Center, known as AROC.
The group has a contract with the district to provide services to students, but one group of parents said AROC violated the terms of the deal by helping to organize a walk-out on October 18 in support of the people of Palestine.
"The youth united will never be defeated!" Zayna Elkarra screamed into a bull horn as she led the crowd in a chant. Elkarra is a sophomore at Lowell High School and is the student who organized Wednesday afternoon's rally on the steps of the school district headquarters.
"As the youth collectively we stand with Palestine, we stand for a free Palestine and so we kind of wanted to show that, and show that there's no organization that is forcing us or anything and that this is all us and we're doing it on our own as our own people," she said.
Elkarra also participated in the October 18th walk out in support of a cease fire in Gaza.
After that rally, a parent group called the SF Guardians wrote a letter to the district asking to end the district's relationship with AROC, saying the organization violated the contract with the school district by interfering with classroom work and also creating an environment of discrimination though anti-Semitic slogans.
"We don't think school contractors should be using their access to students to organize students within the school grounds," said Autumn Looijen, one of the co-founders of SF Guardians.
The district responded on Friday saying they have opened an investigation into AROC's actions.
"Shame on you! Shame on you!!" the protestors chanted when one of the speakers mentioned the board's investigation.
"This is a racist investigation. We uphold district policy at all levels. This was a youth-organized protest and we're going to support our youth in whatever they do, because someone needs to be there to support the youth," says Sabreen Imtair, a youth organizer with AROC.
"AROC is the only Arab organization in the city and if it was happening to another group of people or if the story was different, they would have reacted in such a different way," says Elkarra.
The parent group says this isn't about AROC's geo-political leanings, but about making sure contractors follow the district rules.
"There are students who love having that group there and are finding a lot of emotional support from them. I just find it sad that they've done things to put that at risk," says Looijen.
The district said it would be conducting an investigation into the allegations against AROC and should have more information in the next 30 days.
