A Day of Concern at York University for Tarek & John Sept 26 12:30pm Vari Hall

On Thursday 26 September at 12:30 p.m., President Mamdouh Shoukri will join other members of the York University community in front of Vari Hall to speak out for the release of John Greyson and Tarek Loubani from the Egyptian jail where they have been held without charges for nearly six weeks. They are now into their second week of a hunger strike.


On Thursday 26 September at 12:30 p.m., President Mamdouh Shoukri will join other members of the York University community in front of Vari Hall to speak out for the release of John Greyson and Tarek Loubani from the Egyptian jail where they have been held without charges for nearly six weeks. They are now into their second week of a hunger strike.

Greyson is popular and highly respected film professor at York and renowned director. Dr Tarek Loubani is an emergency- room doctor in London, Ontario, and a professor at Western University. In attempting to reach Gaza through Egypt, they found themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time, and were arbitrarily arrested.

The York University Faculty Association (YUFA) has organized a Day of Concern to voice the deep concern from all parts of the university that these men should be released immediately. Other speakers will be FES Professor Justin Podur, a friend of Greyson and Loubani; Professor Brenda Longfellow, Greyson’s colleague in the film department; and one of Greyson’s students.

Throughout the day leaflets, posters, and buttons will be distributed in Vari Hall to encourage York’s faculty, students, and staff to send a flood of messages to Canadian and Egyptian government officials.

Also on display will be a video made by a group of Greyson’s students, who wanted others to appreciate what a remarkable contribution he has made to York and its film program.

At 3:30 p.m. the Faculty of Environmental Studies will show one of Greyson’s recent films – Proteus – in HNES, Room 283.

For further information on Greyson and Loubani’s stuation, go to http://tarekandjohn.com/

For further information on the event on Thursday 26 September at Vari Hall, contact Professor Craig Heron, YUFA’s Vice-President External, at cheron@yorku.ca.

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Author: Justin Podur

Author of Siegebreakers. Ecology. Environmental Science. Political Science. Anti-imperialism. Political fiction. Teach at York U's FES. Author. Writer at ZNet, TeleSUR, AlterNet, Ricochet, and the Independent Media Institute.