AUCians protest for Palestine 

Picture Taken By: Mohamed Moustafa

AUC students gathered on February 14 during assembly hour to call for an end to the Israeli attacks on Gaza and raise awareness about the ongoing genocide. 

Students marched across the campus waving the Palestinian flag, wearing the keffiyeh, and chanting “ceasefire.”  The protest went viral on several social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok, and was covered by popular online platforms like CairoScene and El Fasla to publish snippets of the protest. 

Since the military arm of Hamas launched an attack on Israel on October 7 killing 1,139, Israeli forces have killed more than 29,600 Palestinians, with women and children representing two thirds of the death toll. 

AUC students have since then organized several marches and protests to support Palestinians and call for an end to what experts have described as the deadliest and most destructive attacks in recent history.

The student-led Al-Quds Club and the Student Union (SU) have collaborated on the most recent protest, distributing flyers and posting on Facebook and Instagram to call on students to join in. 

“This time, the protest was led and hosted by Al-Quds Club and that does mean something. The fact that we have a Palestinian-centered club is, of itself, a different approach. Since it’s led by Palestinians, it’s an empowerment of its own,” Student Union Chairperson and Student Representation Committee member Farida Sarhank told The Caravan.

The majority of AUC’s student clubs have also used their connections and platforms to promote and help raise awareness to encourage students to join the protest.

The Palestinian Computer Science sophomore Yehia Hamouda led the students during the march and used a megaphone to attract and mobilize students on campus. 

“The protest was great in terms of organization and the collaborations with many student entities. However, it was lacking in attendance, which I found quite alarming since this is the first time during this war that Egypt is under a serious threat. We hope that the student body will eventually understand the urgency of the situation,” Hamouda told The Caravan.

Previous protests have garnered more attention and  popularity. Hundreds of students, for instance, have gathered for the solidarity walk to mourn Palestinians who lost their lives last  October. The most recent protest, however, gathered roughly 100 students, despite alarming official statements announcing troops will move southward to Rafah, on the Egyptian-
Palestinian border, where more than 2.3 million Palestinians have sought refuge. 

SU’s Sarhank agreed that attendance numbers have been decreasing, raising questions about whether the protests were seen as a trend. 

“From an SU perspective, we try sending out statements and updates as well as news, but the engagement is dying, and I think it’s because they believe that this problem is outside their hands and there isn’t a solution to it, ” Sarhank added.