Roughly 700 students of Al-Azhar University’s pharmacology faculty staged protests against faculty dean Farid Hamada for slapping a student, Islam Taher Abdallah, on the face.
According to a student who witnessed the altercation, Abdallah had delivered a speech in class on the occasion of Prophet Muhammad’s Birthday last Friday. His address was interrupted by the dean, however, who entered the hall and angrily demanded Abdallah’s student identification card. Abdallah immediately complied with the request, but was nevertheless dealt a slap in the face by Hamada, according to the witness.
Demonstrators carried banners and chanted slogans in which the condemned the incident. They called on Hamada to apologize to Abdallah, although the dean reportedly rejected the demand. Other members of the teaching staff attempted to calm protesters, vowing to try to convince Hamada to apologize provided that they call off the demonstration.
The protest continued for two hours amid heavy security.
Translated from the Arabic Edition.
