People have been organising across the country to protest against the Alexandria bombing, says Sarah Eissa "United we stand, divided we fall," is a saying that has been widely used in recent days by many Egyptian individuals and organisations. The Bait Al-Aila (House of the Family), an Al-Azhar body consisting of Muslim and Christian scholars, the Sharak fil-Kheir (Sharing Good Deeds), an organisation set up by popular preacher Amr Khaled to discourage Internet extremism, and Let's Pray Together, a programme broadcast on the Al-Hayat TV channel that invites Muslims and Christians to attend services together, are all examples of this desire for unity and oneness. "We will live together, or die together. We are a human shield protecting Egypt" was the slogan used by organisers at the Al-Sawy Culture Wheel in Cairo in putting what they described as human shields around the country's churches on Coptic Christmas Eve. Similar ideas had been adopted by others under different names, with people standing vigil for an hour outside Egyptian churches in different governorates on 7 January. According to Heba Ahmed, public-relations coordinator at the Al-Sawy Culture Wheel, the idea of a human shield was the brainchild of Mohamed El-Sawy, founder of the Wheel, who realised that Egypt's Christians were being prevented from attending church in peace and security. "They have not been able to pray, and we are here to help them pray in safety," Ahmed said. However, the Wheel did not want to monopolise the initiative. "Anyone who believes in the idea can apply it at their nearest church," she said. For his part, El-Sawy said that terrorist acts against Egypt would always fail when they came up against the unity of the nation. "Our initiative was a quick reaction to events, a way of showing that we will fight back against terrorism and not be broken by it," he said. "Unfortunately, some people have become impatient with listening to others' views, but thinking must be done calmly," and it takes time to develop. "The Wheel intends to start programmes on inter-religious dialogue for both young and older people," he said. Ahmed said that she believed the recent attack threatened Egypt's entire population and not just the country's Christians. "The people who carried out this attack must have been mentally disturbed. It was an incident that could have happened in any country," she said. "However, as long as there is a single Christian who believes he has been injured by a Muslim, or a single Muslim who believes he has been hurt by a Christian, misunderstandings will continue. There has to be dialogue to ensure that these things do not happen." On Coptic Christmas Eve, El-Sawy and some 100 others went to the Al-Maraashli Church in the Cairo district of Zamalek, forming a human shield around the building in an act of protest against the Alexandria bombing. "People stood out in the cold until late at night, and we met worshippers after the service, who insisted on shaking hands with us. A church official also thanked us for our presence," he said. However, the churches were also surrounded by security barriers, with the security services checking the identity of all those going into and out of them. In Zamalek, this caused some problems with the El-Sawy human shield, resolved when the security services allowed those present to remain holding banners around the church until the end of the service. According to Ahmed Zakaria, 23, one of the participants in the human shield, "I was frustrated when the security services at first told us to leave. Some people followed their instructions and left, but I stayed where I was with those who really wanted to express their views. The security services' role is to protect Egyptian citizens, and it is illogical for them to tell us to take down our banners and move on, when all we want to do is express our opinions." Zakaria added that standing in silence was sometimes more expressive than talking and slogans, and that the human-shield initiative had expressed the feelings of the silent majority of Egypt's population. According to Manal Shawqi, 40, also a participant in the human shield, the initiative aimed to show the love of Muslims for Christians and the unity of the Egyptian nation. "We go to school and university together, and we share religious celebrations. The sorrow is ours as well as theirs. Even if we don't hold up banners, they know our feelings," she said. Shawqi was determined not to be scared of threats. "I prayed, took my daughter, and came to the demonstration," she said. "If we are attacked, it will be for God to decide, and if we are hurt we will be martyrs. The look of happiness on their faces because of our support was reward enough," she said, regarding the worshippers leaving the church. This feeling of national unity was mutual. "These demonstrators are not Christians," worshipper Marian Mina told her children when she saw the human shield's participants. "But they have come here to show that we are members of the same family living in the same country, and that those who perform terrorist acts are members of a tiny and violent minority." "I pray that this solidarity will continue, and that this enthusiasm for national unity will not fade." Worshipper Nora Thabet, who had lost two relatives in the attack, thanked those present for their support. "Thank you for your love and for your gesture," she said, "which has truly made us happy." According to Shadia Baleegh, also at the Zamalek ceremony, those who carried out the Alexandria attack cannot have been Egyptians. Those responsible must have been suffering from some delusion or mental illness, she said. "We are people who love God, and if they were told that such deeds would bring them closer to Him, then they must have been suffering under some kind of delusion." However, her husband, Medhat Morris, felt that the government should do more to protect the country's Christians. No new steps would be taken to enhance the rights of Christians, he thought, adding that 40 years ago there had been talk about securing churches and religious houses, but little had happened since. The human-shield initiative was welcome, he said, as a way of expressing popular feeling. However, more was also needed from the government. Another initiative designed to express Egyptians' revulsion at the Alexandria attack came in the form of groups of young people across the country who stood, dressed in black, by the River Nile in silent vigil for those who died. One such group met in the Cairo suburb of Maadi, and it included people of different political affiliations. Nine-year-old twins Omar and Ahmed Hassan, members of the Maadi group, had drawn pictures depicting unity between Muslims and Christians. Omar said that he had drawn his picture as a way of saying that Egypt belonged to Muslims and Christians alike. "These people should not have died," he said, and Ahmed added that he was sad because of all the people who had died in the attack. Their mother, Maha Saleh, said that the family wanted to show their solidarity and to demand that tensions between Egypt's Muslims and Christians be resolved. There was a need for unity and love between Muslims and Christians, she said. Also at the meeting, Khaled Mansour, 21, said that he had attended in order to send a message to whomever it was that wanted to separate Egyptians and to protest against the failure to protect Christian worshippers during the Eid. "I am not into politics," he said. "I am just here as a concerned Egyptian citizen, neither as a Muslim nor a Christian."
