After five days of marching, students from Shaar Hanegev high school in southern Israel reached the Knesset in Jerusalem on Thursday to protest the government's handling of the security situation along the Israel-Gaza Strip border. Hundreds of people from across the country joined the students to express their support.
According to the organizers, largely 12th grade students, the march was an expression of frustration and a call for change. They said they want their younger siblings to have the same normal life as any other child in Israel, and stressed the march was not a political one.
"The march was tough but good, people from all over the country joined it and supported us," one student told the Walla new portal.
"The reason for the march and demonstration is that we want change. We were raised in a reality that isn't normal and wouldn't be accepted anywhere else in the country or Western world. We are demanding that this change. It's unacceptable that children grow up with post-trauma; fears, sirens and running to bomb shelters in the middle of the night," he said.
President Reuven Rivlin met the students as they arrived at the capital.
"I came to march with you on behalf of every citizen in the country who is following you and marching with you in spirit," Rivlin told them. "We hear your outcry and it is heart-wrenching. I promise you – we won't allow, we cannot allow the [rocket alert] siren to become permanent."
Ofir Libstein, the newly elected head of the Shaar Hanegev Regional Council, congratulated the students, calling the march "an authentic protest without politics or unnecessary words."
