Cairo University student expelled for pro-Palestine activism, BDS says

Student activist Hossam Mahmoud was expelled in September from his mass communication's course at Cairo University and prohibited from re-enrolling, in a move he fears is in retaliation for his political organizing on campus.

The university said the expulsion was the result of a technical error it plans to correct. 

But Mahmoud has still not been reinstated, and the university administration has not allowed him or his lawyer to review the expulsion decision, he said to Mada Masr.

Mahmoud, a member of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement (BDS) in Egypt who has submitted requests to the university administration to host student events in solidarity with Palestine, fears the decision might be politically motivated.

Over recent days, BDS Egypt and liberal and opposition parties have demanded his student status be reinstated, cautioning against “the targeting of student activists and those [standing] in solidarity with Palestine” at Egypt’s universities.

Mahmoud discovered on September 29 that he was permanently expelled without prior notice for his alleged failure to complete the required course hours, the Socialist Popular Alliance Party’s youth and students office announced in a statement on Sunday night. 

He was able to prove through his student portal that he had fulfilled the required coursework. 

Faculty members acknowledged there was an administrative error and pledged to rectify it, but continued to stall on Mahmoud's reinstatement. As a result, he missed the midterm exams, which began on November 9.

The student explained to Mada Masr that the administration maintains that the issue is a technical error and has not confronted him regarding his student activism at the university.

However, he said that the university has refused to allow him or his lawyer to view the expulsion decision.

Mahmoud said his campus activism included a bid to participate in student union elections last year, which he said was met with “restrictions.”

He also submitted requests to host pro-Palestine activities but none were approved by the administration, he said.

Finally, in June, he signed a letter addressed to the university president demanding the institution take action in solidarity with Mathematics Professor Laila Soueif, who was on hunger strike at the time to protest the unfair imprisonment of her son, activist Alaa Abd El Fattah, who was recently released.

BDS stated on Wednesday that Mahmoud is being targeted for his activism and solidarity with Palestine.

The movement added that the incident “cannot be separated from the escalating context of restrictions on pro-Palestine activism within Egyptian universities.”

Several students have been arrested for organizing in solidarity with Palestine.

Other political parties and groups have issued statements of solidarity with Mahmoud in the past days, including the Karama Party, the Bread and Freedom Party and the Revolutionary Socialists.

The statements demanded Mahmoud's reinstatement, the formation of a special committee to enable him to take his full midterm exams, and a serious and transparent investigation into his expulsion. 

Cairo University is yet to comment publicly on Mahmoud’s status.