Pro-Palestinian protesters marched from Town and County Village to Addison Elementary School on May 10 to protest President Joe Biden’s support for Israel, causing Palo Alto High School to be temporarily barricaded and preventing students from leaving campus.
The group began gathering around noon, when the rally was initially set to begin, but delayed their departure until around 1:15 p.m.
Jack, a PAUSD student who asked to be referred to using only his first name, said he skipped class to attend the march and protest Biden’s foreign policy.
“Biden has sent over $50 billion to Israel during his presidency so far,” Jack said. “And that it’s just entirely unacceptable to continue supporting a genocidal apartheid state.”
Biden attended a fundraising event Friday at the Portola Valley home of billionaire donor Vinod Khosla before attending another in the Palo Alto home of ex-Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, who lives in the neighborhood surrounding Addison Elementary.
Groups holding Israeli and American flags were gathered on corners surrounding Addison Elementary, showing their support for the president’s actions. Palo Alto resident Abra Siegel was one of the protesters representing Israel.
“I mostly came over to represent Israel and Israeli and the hostages who are still in captivity,” Siegel said. “133 of them and nobody speaks about them and everybody has forgotten why this war began.”
Paly’s campus was closed off as the protest went on across the street, leaving students unable to leave campus during lunch. Administrators cited safety concerns as the primary reason for the closure.
“We have a closed lunch today to make sure students are safe and away from any violence that may ensue, or any ruckus,” assistant principal LaDonna Butler said. “So at brunch time, we allowed for kids to go back and forth as they pleased so they could get their lunch or whatever they needed and now we’re a closed campus for the first time ever.”
The campus closure was met by mixed reactions from students, with some wishing they were able to attend the protest.
“I feel like even though there is a protest there, students, during their free time or during lunch, should have an option if they wanted to protest,” freshman Loren Arcilla said.
However, some students enjoyed the quad feeling more crowded than usual.
“Everybody is more united,” sophomore Catarina Carbone said. “With the music playing, people playing sports, it’s a lot more together than when Town and Country’s open.”