George Ishak ( arz, جورج إسحق) is 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.
Before he entered politics, Mubarak was a career officer in ...
's presidency, he co-founded the grassroots
Kefaya
Kefaya ( arz, كفاية ''kefāya'', , "enough") is the unofficial moniker of the Egyptian Movement for Change ( ar, الحركة المصرية من أجل التغيير ''el-Haraka el-Masreyya men agl el-Taghyeer''), a grassroots coalition ...
opposition movement.
Following the
2011 Egyptian Revolution
The 2011 Egyptian revolution, also known as the 25 January revolution ( ar, ثورة ٢٥ يناير; ), began on 25 January 2011 and spread across Egypt. The date was set by various youth groups to coincide with the annual Egyptian "Police ho ...
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.
Early years
Born and raised in Port Said, Ishak graduated from
Cairo University
Cairo University ( ar, جامعة القاهرة, Jāmi‘a al-Qāhira), also known as the Egyptian University from 1908 to 1940, and King Fuad I University and Fu'ād al-Awwal University from 1940 to 1952, is Egypt's premier public university ...
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 was a member of Egypt's Constitution Party.
Political activism
Ishak was a founding member and first general coordinator of the
Kefaya
Kefaya ( arz, كفاية ''kefāya'', , "enough") is the unofficial moniker of the Egyptian Movement for Change ( ar, الحركة المصرية من أجل التغيير ''el-Haraka el-Masreyya men agl el-Taghyeer''), a grassroots coalition ...
opposition group, the movement organised the first protest against Mubarak rule. Ishak was later a member of the National Association for Change, a grassrootscoalition 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.
Before he entered politics, Mubarak was a career officer in ...
’s presidency; political corruption and stagnation; "the blurring of the lines between power and wealth; and human rights."
During the 2012 Egyptian protests, Ishak 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, Ishak said that Morsi’s new declaration "does not answer people’s demands", and the work would continue.