OUSD's consistent repression and suppression of its Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim community members and students is absolutely unacceptable. We demand a school system that honors the full humanity and dignity of its Arab students and respects its students' right to speak out against the genocide devastating the people of Gaza. This censorship of Palestine in schools must stop NOW, as must this racist perception of Arab and Muslim students and community members gathering together to call for a ceasefire and end to the bloodshed as a threat to public safety. Please stand on the right side of history, Oakland, and join your constituents in demanding an immediate ceasefire now! Free Palestine!
As a Yemeni American Muslim I find it truly disturbing and vile that OUSD refuses to hear our voices! We are demanding that the OUSD Board hold a meeting next week to introduce & vote on a resolution for a Permanent Ceasefire. Just today President Biden, a genocidal war criminal is trying to expedite the shipment of even more weapons to Israel to continue the destruction and killing of thousands of Palestinians! The genocide thats being live streamed from gaza seems to not bother many of you who claim to want peace. Since Oct. 7th Israel has killed over 18,000 with the majority being women and children. Wounding over 50,000 & wiping out entire bloodlines.Now I wonder if those who oppose the resolution have any humanity left in them. How many babies do you need to see dead or without limbs? How many mothers or fathers carrying their murdered children do you need to see for you to have basic human empathy and dignity & realize this needs to end now! Ceasefire NOW! Shame on you OUSD
Good afternoon, my name is Brian A. Giron Flores, I am a D5 Resident, and I am a Freshmen at Oakland Highschool. Over the past few months, I have become rather educated on the situation in Gaza. I’ve read stories about people who have their homes taken, their loved ones taken, their very lives snatched away. The things happening in that part of the world are absolutely horrifying. It’s a nightmare that won’t end unless we do something to help them. With this information, I can’t just stand by and do nothing. I Strongly Support and demand a ceasefire on Gaza. It’s absolutely heart breaking to hear that countless families are being bombed. They did nothing wrong.
I demand that the OUSD Board of Directors hold a special meeting next week to introduce and pass a resolution for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza. Their regular evasion of discussions on this resolution has signaled to Oakland’s Arab and Muslim students—who have already faced disproportionate censorship and punishment in the past two months—that their lives, their joy, and their safety are not valued by the top decision-makers in the district. This echoes a trend seen across the United States and globally, where lawmakers have directed their condemnations not toward the brutal murder of thousands of innocent Palestinians, but rather toward those who simply defend the Palestinians’ right to exist. It is truly shameful that the Board of Educators cannot fulfill their duty to ensure that every student feels safe and valued in our school district, while they instead cite their own perceived lack of safety when confronted by concerned Arab community members. Ceasefire now!
I am a constituent of District 2 in Oakland, and many children and youth in my family and community attend OUSD schools. I am in support of a Ceasefire resolution, and believe OUSD has the moral responsibility to pass a Ceasefire resolution to address the impacts of war waged on innocent civilians. In addition, such resolution would demonstrate OUSD’s commitment to address Islamophobia and anti-semitism, discrimination and violence. U.S. tax dollars should not go towards the genocide in Gaza. It should be used for housing, healthcare, jobs, education and other needs of citizens and residents of Oakland as well as other cities struggling to provide basic needs and services that allow people to live dignified lives. Our tax dollars should not be going towards murderous war crimes causing Palestinians to be displaced and annihilated from their indigenous homelands. The call for an immediate and permanent Ceasefire is the most humanitarian call and first step towards genuine solutions.
I'm a former OUSD educator, current parent of an OUSD student of Ashkenazi Jewish, Egyptian, and Filipino descent. My child and I attended the board meeting last month where those of us who came to speak were silenced, and I had to explain to them that sometimes our elected representatives are derelict in their duty to represent those who elect them. What does staying "neutral" in the face of decades of apartheid, genocide, and the deaths of over 9,000 children in 2 months teach our children? I'm writing to demand that the board schedule a special meeting next week to discuss and vote on the Permanent Ceasefire Resolution # 2234-0159. I urge you listen to the voices of our community, and to act in support of our Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim students and community members in this historic time of grief & injustice by supporting this resolution for permanent ceasefire.
Pass a Cease Fire Resolution NOW! Literally thousands of defenseless children being murdered daily. Is that ok with you? Their families are being MURDERED!!!! Every single day. Is it fine that these humans be exterminated? Why? It certainly wasn't fine that the Jews in Germany and other countries were exterminated. Why is it ok that this happen to Palestinian humans? Civilians are the ones who suffer when "factions" war with one another. We must call for a stop to the murder of innocents immediately. Further, shame on the Israeli Government (notice I didn't say "Jewish People"), for terrorizing the Palestinian people. What gives them the right?!!? They must be held to account like every one else. This is sickening and disgusting and that our School Board President is mute on this while being so focal on Reparations for Black Students speaks VOLUMES. Get it together. Join the rest of the world on the right side of history and do the right thing NOW!!!
In a district that opens meetings with land acknowledgments and asks students to use restoration not retaliation, the lack of a stance on Palestine is contradictory to what we preach to community and children. You cannot acknowledge the settler colonial history of this land and NOT connect this to Palestine. We cannot ask students to be restorative and simultaneously claim the Israeli government is acting in “self-defense” as the death and displacement of Palestinian people continues. Muslim and Arab students’ voices are being silenced as are your Muslim employees. We demand the Palestine ceasefire be placed on the agenda. We demand you act in alignment with what you ask students to do and what you claim to be about as a district.
I am a school-based mental health therapist supporting students in OUSD. The repeated cancelling of meetings on behalf of the board only demonstrates that the backlash from anti-ceasefire supporters nationally matters more to the board members than the voices of the Arab and Muslim students they are responsible for here in their community. I am asking for the board to demand a permanent ceasefire and to take actions that exemplify the district's stated commitment to equity and inclusion of oppressed voices.
We need leadership that supports ALL community members and doesn’t silence students and teachers from ALL marginalized backgrounds. Demonstrate real leadership by letting our students and teachers know that violence against Palestinian children is condemned. You can’t preference one marginalized group and subjugate another one through silencing our teachers and students. That is not true leadership. You will be voted out if you don’t do the right thing like the city council already did. OUSD schools need to stand with the oppressed!
Please listen to the voices Palestinian, Arab & Muslim families of OUSD — as an OUSD parent i request a meeting to discuss the ceasefire resolution.
OUSD's consistent repression and suppression of its Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim community members and students is absolutely unacceptable. We demand a school system that honors the full humanity and dignity of its Arab students and respects its students' right to speak out against the genocide devastating the people of Gaza. This censorship of Palestine in schools must stop NOW, as must this racist perception of Arab and Muslim students and community members gathering together to call for a ceasefire and end to the bloodshed as a threat to public safety. Please stand on the right side of history, Oakland, and join your constituents in demanding an immediate ceasefire now! Free Palestine!
I support the ability for students to call for ceasefire in their schools
Please hold a special meeting next week to introduce a resolution for a permanent ceasefire!
As a Yemeni American Muslim I find it truly disturbing and vile that OUSD refuses to hear our voices! We are demanding that the OUSD Board hold a meeting next week to introduce & vote on a resolution for a Permanent Ceasefire. Just today President Biden, a genocidal war criminal is trying to expedite the shipment of even more weapons to Israel to continue the destruction and killing of thousands of Palestinians! The genocide thats being live streamed from gaza seems to not bother many of you who claim to want peace. Since Oct. 7th Israel has killed over 18,000 with the majority being women and children. Wounding over 50,000 & wiping out entire bloodlines.Now I wonder if those who oppose the resolution have any humanity left in them. How many babies do you need to see dead or without limbs? How many mothers or fathers carrying their murdered children do you need to see for you to have basic human empathy and dignity & realize this needs to end now! Ceasefire NOW! Shame on you OUSD
We request to have a meeting to support the ceasefire in Gaza bill.
Thank you
Kindly schedule a special meeting next week to discuss and vote on the Permanent Ceasefire Resolution for Gaza.
Good afternoon, my name is Brian A. Giron Flores, I am a D5 Resident, and I am a Freshmen at Oakland Highschool. Over the past few months, I have become rather educated on the situation in Gaza. I’ve read stories about people who have their homes taken, their loved ones taken, their very lives snatched away. The things happening in that part of the world are absolutely horrifying. It’s a nightmare that won’t end unless we do something to help them. With this information, I can’t just stand by and do nothing. I Strongly Support and demand a ceasefire on Gaza. It’s absolutely heart breaking to hear that countless families are being bombed. They did nothing wrong.
Oakland students deserve a that a district stands for life and justice. Pass a Cease Fire Resolution now.
I am a student in d5
I demand that the OUSD Board of Directors hold a special meeting next week to introduce and pass a resolution for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza. Their regular evasion of discussions on this resolution has signaled to Oakland’s Arab and Muslim students—who have already faced disproportionate censorship and punishment in the past two months—that their lives, their joy, and their safety are not valued by the top decision-makers in the district. This echoes a trend seen across the United States and globally, where lawmakers have directed their condemnations not toward the brutal murder of thousands of innocent Palestinians, but rather toward those who simply defend the Palestinians’ right to exist. It is truly shameful that the Board of Educators cannot fulfill their duty to ensure that every student feels safe and valued in our school district, while they instead cite their own perceived lack of safety when confronted by concerned Arab community members. Ceasefire now!
I'm a student in d5.
I am a constituent of District 2 in Oakland, and many children and youth in my family and community attend OUSD schools. I am in support of a Ceasefire resolution, and believe OUSD has the moral responsibility to pass a Ceasefire resolution to address the impacts of war waged on innocent civilians. In addition, such resolution would demonstrate OUSD’s commitment to address Islamophobia and anti-semitism, discrimination and violence. U.S. tax dollars should not go towards the genocide in Gaza. It should be used for housing, healthcare, jobs, education and other needs of citizens and residents of Oakland as well as other cities struggling to provide basic needs and services that allow people to live dignified lives. Our tax dollars should not be going towards murderous war crimes causing Palestinians to be displaced and annihilated from their indigenous homelands. The call for an immediate and permanent Ceasefire is the most humanitarian call and first step towards genuine solutions.
I'm a former OUSD educator, current parent of an OUSD student of Ashkenazi Jewish, Egyptian, and Filipino descent. My child and I attended the board meeting last month where those of us who came to speak were silenced, and I had to explain to them that sometimes our elected representatives are derelict in their duty to represent those who elect them. What does staying "neutral" in the face of decades of apartheid, genocide, and the deaths of over 9,000 children in 2 months teach our children? I'm writing to demand that the board schedule a special meeting next week to discuss and vote on the Permanent Ceasefire Resolution # 2234-0159. I urge you listen to the voices of our community, and to act in support of our Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim students and community members in this historic time of grief & injustice by supporting this resolution for permanent ceasefire.
Pass a Cease Fire Resolution NOW! Literally thousands of defenseless children being murdered daily. Is that ok with you? Their families are being MURDERED!!!! Every single day. Is it fine that these humans be exterminated? Why? It certainly wasn't fine that the Jews in Germany and other countries were exterminated. Why is it ok that this happen to Palestinian humans? Civilians are the ones who suffer when "factions" war with one another. We must call for a stop to the murder of innocents immediately. Further, shame on the Israeli Government (notice I didn't say "Jewish People"), for terrorizing the Palestinian people. What gives them the right?!!? They must be held to account like every one else. This is sickening and disgusting and that our School Board President is mute on this while being so focal on Reparations for Black Students speaks VOLUMES. Get it together. Join the rest of the world on the right side of history and do the right thing NOW!!!
Never again for anyone!
In a district that opens meetings with land acknowledgments and asks students to use restoration not retaliation, the lack of a stance on Palestine is contradictory to what we preach to community and children. You cannot acknowledge the settler colonial history of this land and NOT connect this to Palestine. We cannot ask students to be restorative and simultaneously claim the Israeli government is acting in “self-defense” as the death and displacement of Palestinian people continues. Muslim and Arab students’ voices are being silenced as are your Muslim employees. We demand the Palestine ceasefire be placed on the agenda. We demand you act in alignment with what you ask students to do and what you claim to be about as a district.
I am a school-based mental health therapist supporting students in OUSD. The repeated cancelling of meetings on behalf of the board only demonstrates that the backlash from anti-ceasefire supporters nationally matters more to the board members than the voices of the Arab and Muslim students they are responsible for here in their community. I am asking for the board to demand a permanent ceasefire and to take actions that exemplify the district's stated commitment to equity and inclusion of oppressed voices.
We need leadership that supports ALL community members and doesn’t silence students and teachers from ALL marginalized backgrounds. Demonstrate real leadership by letting our students and teachers know that violence against Palestinian children is condemned. You can’t preference one marginalized group and subjugate another one through silencing our teachers and students. That is not true leadership. You will be voted out if you don’t do the right thing like the city council already did. OUSD schools need to stand with the oppressed!
This is some BS that the resolution has even been introduced. Just a reminder Jesus is Palestinian!!