students insist that SCAF step down

From the Caravan, our student newspaper:

University students escalate actions to civil disobedience

FARAH YOUSRY – EDITOR IN CHIEF
AHMED ABOUL ENEIN

Saturday, February 4th, 2012

The American University in Cairo’s Student Union stated that it would escalate its actions to what it called “total civil disobedience” starting Feb. 11 in a statement issued earlier today.

The AUC Student Union demanded that the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) immediately step down and hand over power to an elected revolutionary cabinet capable of fulfilling the people’s demands.

They also called for trying all cabinets that governed Egypt over the past year, holding them accountable for their complicity in SCAF’s crimes.

AUC student union’s call for civil disobedience comes in conjunction with similar calls from the Ain Shams University, the Zagazig university, Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport (AAS), the German University in Cairo, the French University in Egypt, the Modern Academy and the Nile University student unions while the Cairo University student union has called for boycotting classes and a sit-in on campus.

Calls for escalating protests and sit-ins to strikes and civil disobedience come after Port Said’s soccer match events that left 74 killed last Wednesday.

Among the victims were Omar Mohsen, an AUC economics senior expected to graduate this February, and Karim Khouzam, a GUC freshman studying management.

The AUC Student Union’s latest statement comes after its initial statement calling for three days of mourning where university flags would be lowered in respect for Mohsen and the other martyrs.

However, Ahmed Alaa Fayed, AUC student union president, told The Caravan that they realized “this was not enough” and that they had to escalate their actions because “none of the demands is being met and Egyptians are dying everyday”.

Alaa added that if civil disobedience were applied properly “for only one day,” SCAF would not be able to withstand the pressure.

He said that some student union members will be on campus, however, in order to encourage participation.

“I expect some students would still go to classes despite the call for civil disobedience,” Alaa said.

“So student union members will be going to AUC campus everyday to encourage students not to attend classes and leave campus,” he added.

He said that student unions are planning for the Feb. 11 events a week ahead so that “they would have a solid plan. We will be talking to AUC workers’ syndicate as well, hoping we could get them on board.”

Private universities that declared civil disobedience are working together to coordinate marches and strikes that would be “resounding enough”. He added that he hopes more public universities in governorates outside of Cairo would join.

Other universities’ student unions like the Modern Sciences and Arts university (MSA) held SCAF responsible for the events and expressed their intolerance of SCAF’s incessant failure since it assumed power last year. MSA’s student union stated that they might possibly escalate its actions to civil disobedience as well.