'This is inhumane treatment': Guelph students protest in support of Palestine

More than one hundred Guelph students, from at least three high schools, took part in a protest Monday in support of Palestine.

Students walked out of class at 1 p.m., saying they wanted their voices heard. The march went around downtown Guelph and ended at City Hall.

Hira Ahmadi, a Grade 12 student at Centennial Collegiate Vocational Institute, was one of the students who helped organize the rally.

She said she was shocked there was such a big turnout.

“Every different religion, they don’t even have to be Muslim or Arab," Ahmadi said. "It’s really empowering to see them all together."

She told CTV News she's disgusted by the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict.

“This is inhumane treatment, there are babies dying in the hospital because of the electricity [has been] cut off,” Ahmadi said.

It wasn’t just high school students at Monday's rally. Some college and university students also took part like Aseel Elmader, from Conestoga College.

She's Palestinian and knows people who have lost loved ones in the conflict.

“They’re already suffering. One of them lost already 40 people in his family,” she said.

Elmader hopes people speak up, even if the war doesn’t impact them.

“If you’re silent and neutral, you’re with the oppressing people,” she said.

The protest for Palestine was one of many planned across North America. Guelph students said they won’t stop their fight for change and peace.

“We all have to stand together to support Palestine,” Ahmadi said.