FILE - Georges Ishaq
CAIRO – 11 June 2023: Egyptians are preparing to bid farewell to iconic activist Georges Ishaq, whose funeral service is taking place Sunday at St. Mark's Cathedral in Al Abbasiyah, two days after his passing at the intensive care unit following months of struggle with illness.
The activist's full name is Georges Ishaq Abou El Fadl Gad Allah, and was born in 1938 in Port Said governorate. He earned a bachelor's degree in history from Cairo University in 1964, becoming a school teacher after graduation.
Ishaq took part in the demonstrations that followed the Six-Day War in 1967, and those that preceded the 6th of October 1973. That is in addition to student protests that took place in 1968 demanding waging war to restore Sinai Peninsula from the Israeli occupation.
The activist's milestone was in 2004 when he founded the "Enough Movement," which was campaigning against the extension of the rule of Late President Mohamed Hosni Mubarak as well as his son's potential candidacy in presidential election. The movement organized the first demonstration on December 12, 2004.
Ishak is also very well known for being one of the main supporters of the 6th of April Strike in 2008, and that started by the workers of Mahala Factory in Gharbia governorate, but later, extended to other entities in different governorate. Yet, the situation in Mahala evolved into riots and vandalism.
The activist joined in 2010 the National Association for Change, which had as main demands ending the state of emergency, judicial supervision on elections, and observation of elections by NGOs.
The politician ran in 2011-2012 elections for a seat in the Assembly of People, now the House of Representatives, but did not win. As for the political parties he joined, he became member of the Labor Party in 1969, and then, the Constitution Party – founded by Nobel Prize Laureate Mohamed al-Baradei - in 2012.
Ishaq had been member of the National Council for Human Rights since 2011 until his passing.
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