George Isaac (; 1938 – 9 June 2023) was an Egyptian politician and activist. During the later part of
Hosni Mubarak
Muhammad Hosni El Sayed Mubarak (; 4 May 1928 – 25 February 2020) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the fourth president of Egypt from 1981 to 2011 and the 41st Prime Minister of Egypt, prime minister from 1981 to ...
's presidency, he co-founded the grassroots Kefaya opposition movement.
Following the 2011 Egyptian Revolution that toppled Mubarak, Issac became a member of the Constitution Party and a critic of President
Mohamed Morsi
Mohamed Mohamed Morsi Eissa Al-AyyatThe spellings of his first and last names vary. survey of 14 news organizations plus Wikipedia in July 2012Coptic Catholic Church
The Coptic Catholic Church (), also known as the Coptic Catholic Church of Alexandria, is an Eastern Catholic particular church in full communion with the Catholic Church. Along with the Ethiopian Catholic Church and Eritrean Catholic Church ...
.
Early years
Born and raised in
Port Said
Port Said ( , , ) is a port city that lies in the northeast Egypt extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, straddling the west bank of the northern mouth of the Suez Canal. The city is the capital city, capital of the Port S ...
, Isaac graduated from
Cairo University
Cairo University () is Egypt's premier public university. Its main campus is in Giza, immediately across the Nile from Cairo. It was founded on 21 December 1908;"Brief history and development of Cairo University." Cairo University Faculty of En ...
with a BA in history and began his career as a history teacher, headmaster and later as a consultant. Politically active at a young age, he joined the
Fedayeen
Fedayeen ( ''fidāʻiyyūn'' "self-sacrificers") is an Arabic language, Arabic term used to refer to various military groups willing to sacrifice themselves for a larger campaign.
Etymology
"Fidayun" is the plural of "fidayi" ( ''fidāʻiyy'' ...
Suez Crisis
The Suez Crisis, also known as the Second Arab–Israeli War, the Tripartite Aggression in the Arab world and the Sinai War in Israel, was a British–French–Israeli invasion of Egypt in 1956. Israel invaded on 29 October, having done so w ...
Isaac was a founding member and first general coordinator of the Kefaya opposition group, the movement organised the first protest against Mubarak rule. Isaac was later a member of the
National Association for Change
National Association for Change ''()'' is a loose grouping of the various Egyptian of all political affiliations and religion, men and women, including representatives of civil society and young people aims to change Egypt. There was general a ...
, a
grassroots
A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or continent movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from volunteers at the local level to imp ...
coalition
A coalition is formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political, military, or economic spaces.
Formation
According to ''A G ...
which prior to the 2011 revolution drew its support from across Egypt’s political spectrum. It was a platform for protest against
Hosni Mubarak
Muhammad Hosni El Sayed Mubarak (; 4 May 1928 – 25 February 2020) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the fourth president of Egypt from 1981 to 2011 and the 41st Prime Minister of Egypt, prime minister from 1981 to ...
’s presidency; political corruption, and stagnation; "the blurring of the lines between power and wealth; and human rights."
During the 2012 Egyptian protests, Isaac urged President
Mohamed Morsi
Mohamed Mohamed Morsi Eissa Al-AyyatThe spellings of his first and last names vary. survey of 14 news organizations plus Wikipedia in July 2012 On 8 December, after Morsi sought to address some of the protesters' demands, Isaac said that Morsi’s new declaration "does not answer people’s demands", and the work would continue.
Isaac was a member of the National Council for Human Rights.Egyptian activist George Ishak dies age 85 /ref>
Death
George Isaac died on 9 June 2023, at the age of 85. Samir Elish, the leader of the Civil Democratic Movement, said: "May God have mercy on our brother George Ishak and forgive him and enter him into his spacious heavens. Our heartfelt condolences to all friends and acquaintances for the loss of a patriotic man and comrade of struggle."