Guilford high school holding event in 'solidarity' with anti-Israel campus protests
"Demonstration" organized by Muslim Student Association at Grimsley High
A high school in the Guilford County Public Schools district will be holding a demonstration on school property on May 15 to show “solidarity” with the anti-Israel protests that have occurred at UNC Chapel Hill and on college campuses “across the world.”
The Grimsley High Student Muslim Association (GHMSA) organized the event and posted the information to their Instagram account.
The announcement tells those interested in attending to “bring signs, posters, and Kuffiyahs,” as well as wear “Palestinian Flag Colors.”
The original date of the demonstration had been set for this past Monday, May 6.
The date was changed when the GHMSA apparently realized May 6 was Holocaust Remembrance Day, and in the rescheduling announcement the group called it an “oversight.”
The GHMSA’s Instagram account also include a photo of Muslim students holding prayers in the classroom of “Mrs. Mustafa.” The screenshot of the post below has redacted some of names of commenters.
A parent who shared the image asked, “Imagine if these Christian students holding prayers in a school classroom?”
Mustafa teaches science at Grimsley and joined the school in 2020, per the Grimsley High School Instagram account.
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The original event announcement on the GHMSA’s Instagram account has been deleted but screenshots of the content were obtained including a “disclaimer,” telling potential participants to “refrain” from using chants such as “from the river to the sea,” and “anything in support of Palestinian armed resistance groups.”
The GHMSA’s disclaimer goes on to say they do not agree with the “controversy” surrounding these phrases and ideas.”
Parents who contacted me, including several Jewish families, said they were told Dr. Whitney Oakley, the district’s superintendent, greenlit the demonstration.
The communications department for Guilford County Public Schools refused to give an official statement or answer who approve the event but said the district is aware of the event.
“Guilford County Schools is aware of a group of students planning a peaceful student-only protest at Grimsley High School. A safety plan is in place for the event.” — Guilford County Schools Communications response
When asked what type of safety plan was involved, a district representative replied, “We followed the BOE policy, and we will not disclose a safety plan for obvious reasons.”
Those who contacted me also believe a specific teacher at the school is helping the GHMSA plan and execute the demonstration but I have been unable to confirm that is the case.
Parents of Jewish students at Grimsley would not go on the record but indicated they already believe their families are in danger given the rise in antisemitism and physical attacks on Jewish students on U.S. college campuses.
Brooke Weiss, chairwoman of Moms for Liberty in Mecklenburg County, issued a letter to Oakley and the Guilford County School Board.
Weiss, who is Jewish, did not identify herself as affiliated with Moms for Liberty in the letter which was obtained by More To The Story.
Weiss wrote to the board about her “extreme concern over the pro Hamas event scheduled at Grimsley High School.”
“While I believe in the first amendment and free speech, public school is no place for politics or activism. This protest should not be allowed to happen on school grounds,” wrote Weiss. “The people organizing this event should move it to another location. In all of my years I have never heard of a political protest happening on public school grounds. This is absolutely unacceptable.”
It is very concerning that administrators would allow this protest to happen considering that “safe spaces” are constantly being talked about,” Weiss wrote. “Has anyone taken into account how this protest will make Jewish students feel?”
Weiss went on to say, “Antisemitism has exploded since the October 7th pogrom, and this protest only feeds it.”
“Have you not been paying attention to what is happening on college campuses?” Weiss asked. “Allowing this to take place on school grounds is an invitation for the same chaos college campuses are experiencing.”
Weiss encouraged the district to cancel the event. She told MTS many parents wrote to the board with the same request but none of them have received a response.
Guilford School Board District 3 Member Michael Logan reached out to MTS with a comment following publication of this article with the following statement:
“I have asked the board to support me in my request to deny this show of support for Palestine and college/university students at Grimsley High School. As a board member I made the attempt to have a discussion in the closed session on 5/7. Due to the reason for the closed session, it could not be allowed. I made the attempt to have an open discussion during the meeting under other business and was refused again. Our schools should be a place for education without fear and the creation of divisions within our students. There are a number of places for this to happen other than the campus of our public schools that are open to all students.”