A rally in support of the release of York professor John Greyson and Tarek Loubani, two Canadians currently being held in a Cairo prison, will be held Thursday, September 26 in Vari Hall.
The York University Faculty Association, the group hosting the rally, is calling on the York com- munity to speak out in support of the release of the Greyson, a film- maker, and his colleague Loubani, an emergency medical doctor originally from London. The rally is scheduled to begin at 12:30 p.m.
York history professor Craig Heron says the rally is intended to create public pressure and spread awareness among students about what is happening to the two men, a situation he calls “desperate.”
“The only way to apply more public pressure was through media events that would once again put [the situation] in the public eye,” says Heron. “We felt it was so great to bring together the York community and in a strong voice say, ‘Bring these guys back.’”
York President and Vice-Chancellor Mamdouh Shoukri will be at the rally and is supportive of this initiative. This rally follows others of the same nature being held on Monday, September 24, the first one in London, Ontario, and the second at the Egyptian consulate in Montreal.
The rally will only last half an hour, but the organizers will hand out information all day long in Vari Hall and encourage students and faculty to write letters to the Egyp- tian government, says Heron.
“We will have postcards they can send and email addresses they can contact, so they can participate that way,” he says.
The rally will host environmen- tal studies professor Justin Podur, film professor Brenda Longfellow, and one of Greyson’s students as guest speakers.
In addition, a group of Greyson’s students will showcase a video, meant as a token of appreciation for the contributions Greyson has made to York and its film program. At 3:30 p.m., the Faculty of Envi- ronment Studies will also show one of Greyson’s recent films in the Health, Nursing & Environmental Studies building, room 283.
Heron says he hopes people from all parts of the university will get involved by signing petitions and voicing their concerns. He says apart from Greyson’s obvi- ous popularity as a professor, the rally is meant to address a serious human rights issue.
“These are two people who were just passing through and were arrested for apparently no reason whatsoever,” says Heron. “This is not the kind of situation that we should let Canadians be caught in, nor any person. There are larger implications than just these two particular guys.”
