AUCians Participate in Global Initiative to Walk for Palestine

• Reporters: Mohamed Ashraf and Farid Khaled
• Editor: Zeina Hanafy

civilians killed by Israeli forces in Palestine and Lebanon, hundreds of students marched through Bartlett Plaza on October 9 to commemorate the one-year anniversary of Israel’s war on Gaza.

AUC students chanted in unison that “bombing children is not self-defense,” and called for a “Free Palestine”. They also said they are against Zionist policies, and not against the Jewish people.

President of the Al-Quds Club Mariam El-Ashry said the walk was focused on “showing solidarity for both Palestine and Lebanon.” She also said that the AUC is one of the very few communities where they can raise their voices and raise awareness.

“What is the point of having a privilege if we don’t use it?” Integrated Marketing Communication sophomore Farah Awny said that, as a Lebanese, she is “super proud of this protest.”

She told The Caravan that her cousins are suffering in Lebanon while she feels helpless in Cairo. Awny joined this protest to make an impact and get global exposure for what is happening.

“This is about trying to make our voices heard, making their voices heard,” said Awny.

The march at the New Cairo campus also comes days after university students around the world mobilized on campuses and city streets to raise awareness of Israel’s brutal attacks in Gaza, the West Bank and Lebanon. After a hiatus of no classes during the summer, their resumption has meant a doubling of their efforts to protest the war.

Social media has also provided a venue for their protests and demand for justice.

In late September, students from four universities collaborated through a virtual Zoom meeting for an activist roundtable known as The Student Intifada event to demand that their institutions boycott companies and governments that support Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian land, and call for an end to the war in Gaza.

According to Palestinian health authorities, at least 42,000 Palestinians have been killed and more than 100,000 wounded since Israel began its offensive in Gaza on October 7, 2023. More than 16,000 are children.

In a bid to hold Israel accountable for its disproportionate and indiscriminate attacks on civilians and the appalling death and destruction, the Student Intifada has been “reporting on the global student movement for Palestine” by sharing what is taking place on all university campuses, and organizing frequent protests and activist discussions mainly through its official Instagram account @the_ student_intifada.

The Zoom collaboration in late September featured speakers from Harvard University, Metropolitan Autonomous University (UAM), University of Wroclaw, and AUC who discussed initiatives to pressure their institutions to sever financial ties with companies supporting Israel’s occupation and ongoing genocide in Gaza.

Jason Acheampong, a sophomore at Harvard and a member of the Afro-American Student Association, said that “large protests by students supporting Palestine and opposing the situation in Gaza are taking place all across the United States.”

During the Zoom meeting, Malwina Chmara, a student representative from the University of Wroclaw in Poland, said, “Students at our university have been occupying the administrative building for over 119 days as a way to show our support for Palestine”.

Alex Wash, a junior student and representative for UAM in Mexico City, went a step further and mentioned during the meeting that the Student Intifada movement is not merely about Palestine, but a fight against colonialism as a whole. He also called on students to stand up against the suppression, and often violent, crackdown of student activism.

“All colonized people see themselves in Palestine; all colonizers see themselves in Israel,” said Wash. AUC political science alum and president of the Cairo International Model United Nations (CIMUN) Abdelrahman Mamdouh said that all student organization leaders on campus, including Student Union (SU) president Ahmed El Khattib, wanted the AUC administration to cut all ties with companies that support Israel.