Muslim Students Suspended After Pro-Palestine Chant

November 27, 2023

EDINA, MN— Two Muslim high school students were suspended after participating in a pro-Palestine walkout in which they chanted, “from the river, to the sea, Palestine will be free.”

Now, with the help of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the teens have filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights.

The CAIR lawyer who filed the complaint on behalf of the students, Bruce Nestor, refuted claims that the chant is antisemitic and stated during a news conference, "Edina High School authorities and school authorities accused them of being antisemitic, on the basis of using the chant during the walkout of 'From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.’”

He continued, “That is a slogan that is used by elected representatives here in the United States, it is used by hundreds of thousands of demonstrators in support of the aspirations of the Palestinian people for freedom."

“It is an aspirational call for a country within the territory of Historic Palestine, which is free for all people, Jews, Christians, Muslims, and it is not a call to in any way, be antisemitic or target Jews with any type of harm or harassment.”

The two students who were suspended are both of Somali descent.

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