An unrivalled eruption of public unrest and dissent rippled across the Cariene streets in February 1968. This was a student uprising that would constitute the most vocal expression of public opposition following the defeat of the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. A series of organised student strikes, demonstrations and sit-ins that year mounted increasing pressures on Gamal Abdel Nasser’s weakening regime. Student movements started to rapidly evolve, and became at the forefront of “challenging the state monopoly over public space” throughout Egypt’s contemporary political history. Following Egyptian President Anwar El Sadat’s ascent to power, a new form of student activism was on the rise. Sadat’s policies to support the establishment of Islamic student organisations on college campuses had created a new stratum of young activists. These Islamic student groups, known as al-Gama’a al-Islamiyya (the Islamic Community), immediately gained traction and were extremely influential political organisations in Egyptian universities. According to John Esposito, a leading scholar of Middle Eastern and Religious Studies at Georgetown University, Sadat initially promoted Islamic student organisations as a means to “bolster his image as the ‘believer president’ and challenge the influence of the Arab secular nationalist ideology” evoked…
