CAIRO: American University in Cairo students rejected accusations that the university is being used by the US administration as a “tool” to destroy Egypt. A statement posted by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces' (SCAF) Facebook page administrator implied that AUC is one of the tools of the US administration and its security apparatus to bring down the state of Egypt. In response, the university's Student Union issued a statement condemning what it described as a “despicable attempt” to tarnish their image and called upon SCAF to immediately clarify its connection to the administrator's Facebook page. "If the page is connected to SCAF, then they should announce the source of these allegations and to take legal procedures against whoever is inciting against the state," it read. The Student Union statement warned that if SCAF did not clarify the allegations, it will maintain its right to respond and take legal action "as these rumors are considered an incitement to create sedition among Egyptian students and the entire society." On Thursday, the SCAF administrator's statement said, “This question begs itself after calls for civil disobedience by the university. The strangest thing is that the scheme is implemented by Egyptians who are part of the university's teaching staff and who began a deliberate and systematic mobilization of 40 selected students so that they can implement the plan of destroying Egypt by the hands of its sons.” The Student Union said that AUC is a proactive and an integral part of the Egyptian students' movement, rejecting any claims questioning the patriotism of its staff and students. "We are participating in the general strike on Feb. 11 as part of the students' movement that called for the strike in all Egypt's universities; public and private," the statement read. Many of Egypt's university student unions, political movements and revolutionary coalitions have called for a general strike on Feb. 11 that would be escalated to civil disobedience if their demands are not met. Their aim is to achieve the objectives of the Jan. 25 revolution, end military rule, hand over power to civilians, end the military trials of civilians, and demand the acceleration of trials of the figures of the former regime and those responsible for the killing of demonstrators. The AUC and the German University in Cairo each lost a student during the Port Said football massacre that left 71 dead, while the Faculty of Engineering at Cairo University lost three. According to SCAF's Facebook page administrator's statement, the scheme entails fueling tension between students and the military, displaying videos and pictures as part of the Kazeboon campaign on campus and using well-known figures like Alaa Abdel Fattah and Khaled Said's sister to mobilize students to take part in an act of civil disobedience on Feb. 11. The statement added that Professors Rabab Al-Mahdi and Sameh Naguib, the organizers of the planned civil disobedience at AUC, seemed to forget that even if the university's administration is American, it is still an Egyptian university on Egyptian soil and attended by Egyptian youth who will never tolerate treachery whatever the motives are, and will protect it. On their part, AUC students said they believe their participation in the strike is a patriotic and legitimate duty and right that aim at building a better future for their country. "The AUC students who call for the strike, who are more than 40, have started to publicly organize various events on campus and will continue raising the awareness of students, professors and employees at the university to allow each one to decide the effectiveness of their participation in the general strike, which is a peaceful constitutional means of protesting," the AUC statement read.
