In honor of the one year anniversary of the Egyptian revolution, the Arab Student Association and the Egyptian Student Association in North America will be hosting events at the Illini Union on Wednesday to discuss the events of the revolution and Egypt’s progress.
The two groups will host a panel discussion, a short documentary screening about the revolution and a photo gallery featuring main attractions within Egypt.
Speakers include Ola Moshref, a graduate student from Egypt who participated in the movement, and Kenneth Cuno and Linda Herrera, two associate professors with teaching emphases on the Middle East.
The discussion will target five key topics, highlighting that youth movements are playing a large role in the revolution and that this is not the first revolution in Egypt’s history. They will also discuss role of women, Christians and other minorities in the country.
“The revolution didn’t end by (ousted Egyptian president Hosni) Mubarak stepping down. There are actually so many important events that happened after that,” said Rania Al-Sabbagh, graduate student and member of the Egyptian Student Association of North America.“The Egyptian people are still struggling and fighting for their freedom and rights that have been taken away for them.”
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The parliament, elected in Egypt’s first legislative vote after Mubarak’s ouster nearly a year ago, held its inaugural session Monday.
To mark Wednesday’s anniversary, protesters are expected to take to the streets to call on the military to immediately step down and to demand retribution for hundreds of protesters killed by Mubarak’s security forces or at the hands of troops in subsequent clashes.
“I’m here for the rights of martyrs. A year has passed and nothing has changed,” protester Mohammed Khalil said he sat in a tent he erected Tuesday night at Tahrir Square, birthplace of the anti-Mubarak uprising and the main venue of Wednesday’s protests.
Khalil was one of several thousand protesters who gathered at Tahrir Square Tuesday night, erecting tents and building podiums in preparation for Wednesday’s demonstrations.
On campus, students like Ahmed Kharbotly, senior in Engineering and president of the campus chapter of the Arab Student Association, hope to raise awareness for the ongoing unrest in Egypt.
“As an organization (on campus) we’d like to make the student body aware about what’s happening in the world,” Kharbotly said. “And we’ll never say no to support for the cause and the events.”
_The Associated Press contributed to this report._
