Egyptian Muslims used human shields as civil resistance

This brief but powerful January 6 article in the Washington Post describes the grassroots demonstration of 1,000 Egyptian Muslims -- including some well-known figures such as President Mubarak's sons and Amr Khaled, a popular host of Egyptian Islamic TV programs -- who defiantly and courageously protected, escorted and greeted Coptic Egyptians for their Christmas mass after 21 Coptic Christians were killed in a suicide attack a few days ago. Egyptians -- Muslim and Christian -- are rightfully sick and tired of the anti-Coptic hate crimes rocking their country in the past several months.

Although I don't have anything particularly lengthy to say about this, as the article speaks for itself, I just think I should highlight the bravery in these protestors' actions and the power of their message of interfaith collaboration and unity. One protester said,

"I know it might not be safe, yet it's either we live together, or we die together, we are all Egyptians."

The article continues:

"Such are the words one expects of great leaders on the battlefield, of politicians preparing a nation for war, of civic leaders rallying people for an inspiring cause."

Inspiring indeed.

I was pleasantly surprised when I read this piece because we usually hear about human shields in the Middle East in negative terms. Human shields have become synonymous with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (with the media usually accusing Hamas of allegedly using human shields as a refuge from the barrage of IDF attacks). Or the term is used to accuse Afghan and Iraqi "insurgents" of allegedly hiding amongst civilians so as not to be easily targeted by NATO and/or U.S. military forces.

I was also slightly surprised that Mubarak's government allowed the demonstration to take place because Egypt's government is known for its extreme repression of any grassroots activity or civil resistance. This demonstration was obviously a rare exception because Mubarak's sons were actually present, and this time the people and the government alike are fighting a common enemy.

Questions I'm currently pondering:

1. Will these demonstrations continue, or are they a one-time thing?

2. If they do continue, could this be a possible trigger for increased civil resistance against terrorism in Egypt and throughout the Middle East?

3. Is it just me, or are most of the protesters depicted in the picture women? Was that just by chance because of when/where the picture was taken? Or is it that Muslim Egyptian women in particular are being most vocal against the violence? Women seemed to be the ones doing the talking in the Al Jazeera English video embedded in this article too (scroll down.)

Thoughts?

Lolla Mohammed Nur

Lolla Mohammed Nur (lolla@tcdailyplanet.net) is a journalism and political science student at the University of Minnesota.