Rafael Zaki, a hard-working Egyptian 2nd year medical school student was expelled by the University of Manitoba after he posted his personal beliefs and was unwilling to be forced to change those beliefs. Zaki, due to his Coptic Christian heritage, did not agree with abortions and was supportive of gun ownership and he posted his views on Facebook. A few other students complained and he was brought in to the dean's office where they told him his views were “too right wing” and that he needed to apologize and tried to force him to change his views. He apologized but did not change his views thus they expelled him even though they didn’t warn him previously that that was a possibility.

Rafael's Zaki family came from Egypt seeking religious/political freedom and freedom of speech. The fact that they are now experiencing this in Canada, a place where they previously thought was a place of freedom and openness, has took away all their aspirations and has created great mental anguish among them.

We propose that Rafael Zaki was treated unfairly and unequally by the University of Manitoba. He was personally persecuted for his views, as there were other examples of other students posting politically sensitive opinions and were not expelled or reprimanded in any significant way.

We request that the University of Manitoba reinstate Rafael Zaki as a student and that it formally apologizes for all the needless anguish to him and his family. We ask that you support this cause and sign in the hopes that no other student, friend, family member, etc. is punished simply for sharing their personal views.