HIS hair has turned white, his children have grown up and George Ishaq should, like other Egyptian men of his age, be gossiping in Cairo coffee-shops and dozing over the newspaper.Naturally, I blame Bush...
But there is a youthful bounce to this former communist, aged 66, who behaves more like a student activist than a retired school teacher. Whether organising a demonstration or speaking out to visiting journalists against the regime of President Mubarak, the co-founder of the Kefaya (Enough) movement feels that his time has finally come.
“I have been waiting a quarter of a century for this moment,” said Mr Ishaq, whose flat in Cairo has become a centre, if a chaotic one, for a broad spectrum of opposition figures, who troop in and out, organising protests and picking up leaflets.
“We have finally broken the culture of fear in this country. People thought Mubarak was a half-president, half-god, that he was a Pharaoh, that he was untouchable. Now we have the right to challenge him and say 24 years of Mubarak and his regime is enough,” he said, punching the air with satisfaction.
Egypt is slowly coming around...how much longer until we see Egyptian protest babes?
