CAIRO: Hundreds of students demonstrated Wednesday at Cairo University against Israeli settlement construction in annexed Arab east Jerusalem and the incorporation of two Muslim shrines in the occupied West Bank as Israeli heritage sites.
The students first stood in front of Cairo University’s main gate, then marched throughout the Cairo University campus until they reached the university’s dome where the president’s office is located.
“We marched down Cairo University to raise people’s awareness of what has been happening lately in Al-Aqsa, a student who identified herself only as Eman told Daily News Egypt.
The students then continued with an impromptu seminar on campus.
“We want all those who disagree with the aggression of Israel to protest peacefully; so that Zionists know that Al-Aqsa has guards who watch over it, the students said as they gathered for the on-campus discussion.
The movement that organized the demonstration, Students for Al-Aqsa Mosque, consists mainly of students affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood. They were joined by students from various universities.
They called on the government to stop normalization with Israel and for the expulsion of Israeli ambassadors in Arab countries.
The movement also organized a similar protest on Monday, during which students clashed with security forces. On the same day, police arrested 15 students affiliated with the Brotherhood.
Students from the Wednesday demonstration claimed that security initiated the clashes on Monday to break up the “peaceful demonstration. Others said that demonstrators unaffiliated with the movement were to blame for the clashes.
But on Wednesday, university security allowed students to demonstrate peacefully.
“Security’s intervention today was only to help us organize how people stand, Eman said.
