CAIRO: Students at Cairo University’s faculty of economics and political science (FEPS) organized a protest on campus Monday, a first of its kind, in solidarity with the victims of violence on Qasr Al-Ainy Street and condemning the clashes with the army that started on Friday.
“This is certainly a precedent,” said Saif Abdel-Fattah, a third year Political Science student and member of the FEPS student union, “and so far it has been a successful call with good participation.”
The protest was at first organized by students from the Model Arab League/United Nations (ALMUN), a student organization that conducts political simulations to raise political awareness among university students, after a member was killed during the Friday clashes.
“At first, we organized it as a memorial for Ahmed Mansour, a member of ALMUN for the past three years,” said Ahmed Sobhy, Cairo University architecture graduate, and the graduate advisor of the Arab League.
“Then we discussed the idea with the faculty student union, and they agreed to support us and the scope was broadened to protest all the victims of the clashes that took place on Friday and Saturday,” he explained.
Mansour, who had recently started work as a journalism intern, was a fresh mass communication graduate from Cairo University, in addition to being a member of the April 6 Youth Movement. He also won the “Best Delegate” award from his participation in ALMUN.
Abdel-Fattah said that the FEPS student union planned to march outside the Cairo University campus, passing by the engineering and medicine campuses on their way to Tahrir Square, the march’s final destination.
Mohamed Osama, fourth year political science student and organizing committee head of ALMUN, noted that “this was the first protest ever organized by FEPS students, all other marches began elsewhere and stopped by, or were supported by, our students … this time it’s us.”
His enthusiasm was also shared by Hend Hesham, third year civil engineering student and former ALMUN alumnus, who expressed happiness that “the student movement was finally rising again.”
“If this succeeds, we’ll be able to confidently take to the streets again and the revolution will be unstoppable,” Hesham added.
“I’m speechless, I can’t find anything to say except that I’m depressed and fed up of what SCAF has been doing,” said Nouran Ehab, third year political science student and member of the academic secretariat team of the United Nations half of ALMUN.
“Nothing has changed since they took power, except maybe that previously violations used to be discreet or hidden, and now they’re taking place in public … Enough is enough,” Ehab said.
